Demons Never Cry
by The Spirit of Rebellion
Summary: Sealing the Kyuubi wouldn't be enough. There was always the possibility that it would break loose. So the Yondaime did something a little more permanent: He forced the merging of Kyuubi's soul a newborn child's. Dante decided to raise that child: Naruto.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Guess what! I don't own the rights to the Naruto and/or Devil May Cry franchises! (Big surprise, huh?) I do, however, retain rights to any OCs that appear in this fic.

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_**Prologue- Takes One to Know One**_

Two men met over the body of a hero. One looked old and weary. One looked young and proud. The old one was carrying a baby in his arms. The young one was looking at the old one like he was utterly insane.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" the young one yelled. He had bleach white hair and wore a red trench coat that was opened, revealing a mostly bare chest, except for the brown leather strap running across his chest, black, fingerless gloves, dark brown, baggy pants, and black boots. Two holsters hung from his belt, both carrying strange looking contraptions he called 'pistols'. And on his back was a rather elaborate looking set-up of leather straps that held his special claymore, Rebellion.

"Please Dante, take a minute to consider…" began the old man.

"No way, Sarutobi!" Dante interrupted. "I hunt demons for a living! I can't raise a goddamn kid! Not even for you," he added with conviction.

Sarutobi sighed. He had been expecting this reaction, and had come prepared to play dirty. "Do you know exactly what the Yondaime did to the boy?"

Dante raised an eyebrow. "He sealed the Kyuubi in the kid."

The old man looked him in the eyes. "It's true that the sealing method could have worked. But what happens if the seal gets broken? Or breaks open on its own? Or the boy succumbs to the whisperings that the demon would use to seduce its jailor into releasing it. Minato thought that there were too many variables. So, he did something far more permanent." Sarutobi gave Dante a meaningful look.

The young man sucked in a breath. "Impossible…"

Sarutobi smiled sadly. "Minato did always hate that particular word. He had done all the research on sealing, and had even designed a seal powerful enough to get the job done, before deciding to see if he could find an alternative.

"You see, his seal worked on the understanding that he would be using a newborn child, so that its underdeveloped chakra coils could adjust to the presence of the Kyuubi's chakra. The seal would leak the demonic chakra into the child's own system, converting it to human chakra along the way, and adding it to the stores of the child. And, if need be, the container could draw upon the Kyuubi's own chakra directly. Unfortunately, as this chakra would be coming straight from the demon, it could use it to alter the child's mind, perhaps in subtle ways, but probably not.

"And then he met you, Dante. A half-demon. Someone who possessed demonic energy that doesn't change them when they use it. Because there's nothing behind it trying to change you. It's not a demon's borrowed power. It's _your_ power. He felt he'd found his answer.

"Using his seal as a basis, he began researching and experimenting ten times as furiously as before. He barely ate. He didn't sleep. He wasn't there when his own son was born… or when his wife died." Sarutobi's expression was solemn, as was Dante's. There was a moment of silence.

"He was devastated when I told him. But he told me that he'd done it. He'd found a way to… 'create', for lack of a better term, a half-demon. He said he took the most basic part of the seal, the one that did the actual sealing, and… tweaked it."

"Tweaked' it?!" Dante blurted.

Sarutobi smiled a little as he nodded. "He said that instead of sealing the Kyuubi into the depths of the boy's mind, he would aim for the boy's _soul_ instead. From there, he just needed to add more power, and he would be able to actually merge the Kyuubi with the child's soul."

"But the amount of power needed to do that…"

"That's why he died, Dante. Right before he rushed out, he took five soldier pills, and opened all eight Celestial Gates. He died to save not only the village, but the life of his son as well." Sarutobi looked at Dante with a pleading look in his eyes, causing Dante to wince. "Please, Dante. You're the only one I can trust with him. The villagers have seen so much death today. I'm afraid of how people would react. And no one could help him deal with his power here. But you can. Please."

Dante sighed heavily, and looked at the infant in Sarutobi's arms. The little guy had been asleep the entire conversation. Dante held out his arms. The old man smiled at him, said, "Thank you," and handed him the child.

"What's the kid's name?" Dante asked.

Sarutobi smiled. "Naruto."

As Dante adjusted the baby in his arms, he noticed the three marks on each cheek that looked kind of like whiskers. Then the baby began to stir, and suddenly Dante was staring into eyes colored crimson, and with pupils that were slit ever so slightly. They may of sounded a little menacing if he were to describe them to someone, but they were completely filled with the innocence of a newborn child, lit up by the smile that now adorned the baby's face. It mad a few happy baby noises, yawned, and promptly fell back asleep.

Dante blinked a few times, and looked up at Sarutobi, who stood there with a warm smile on his face. The old man then turned to leave, saying over his shoulder, "I would like to know how he's doing from time to time, if it wouldn't be too much trouble."

Dante blinked a few more times, looked back down at the infant in his arms, shrugged, and turned to head back to his home in the West, wondering what the hell he'd just signed up for.

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**Author's Notes**: Well, that takes care of that. Now I can move on to the actual story. Just to prepare you, there's about to be a major time skip. Don't worry your little (or not so little; I don't judge) heads about, though. All important happenings within the scope of the time skip will be revealed through flashbacks and the like when relevant. And so, without further ado, onto Chapter 1…


	2. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1- There's Trouble Brewing**_

Dante walked down the road lined on both sides with lush, green trees and was reminded of how beautiful nature could be. He didn't get to see much of it in the West, as industrialized as the place was. He hadn't changed his attire much in twelve years, except for adding a black shirt under the trench coat. And in his hand was a letter that had been signed by none other than, _The Sandaime Hokage of Konoha_. It requested that he return to Konoha, to assist the village as he had done in the past.

This time would be different, however. As he now had a companion. Alongside him walked his son, Naruto. Sure, Naruto was technically adopted, but as the boy himself had pointed out when he was only six-years-old: It didn't matter that Dante wasn't his biological father; Dante had been the one to raise him, train him, and care for him for twelve years. _'If that's not a father,' _Naruto had said, _'then I don't know what is.'_

The kid had grown quite a bit—physically, mentally, and ability-wise—since the day Dante had decided to take him back West. Naruto now stood at a solid five feet, and had an athlete's build, his frame cut with lean, hard muscle, without being very bulky; a result of the grueling training regimen Dante had enacted on the boy. Naruto kept his bright blond hair cut pretty short, but they had discovered early on that it was completely untamable, so he left it spiky, the points going out in all different directions. The three whisker marks on his cheeks had become a little ragged as time went on. Only his eyes had really stayed the same; they were two crimson orbs with somewhat slit… like those of a fox.

Naruto's attire wasn't so dissimilar from Dante's, as far as color scheme was concerned. He found that he also preferred darker colors. He wore a light, black jacket over a dark red T-shirt; a pair of navy blue jeans; black boots; and black, fingerless gloves, with metal plates on the hands. He also wore a black leather belt, with a holster on each hip, each housing one of two special pistols that his father had made for his tenth birthday. One was colored a dull gold, and he had named it Dawn; the other was painted pitch black, and was referred to as Dusk. Finally, on his back was a different kind of holster, made out of black leather straps (exactly like Dante's), and carried the sword known as Force Edge. Dante had entrusted the blade to Naruto after an… incident with Dante's brother, Vergil.

_That guy was pretty messed up,_ Naruto thought.

His train of thought was derailed when Dante said, "Look sharp, kid, we're just about there."

Naruto looked up, and his eyes widened as he gazed upon two, humongous gates. They were both open, and Naruto could see the beginnings of the city inside. His gaze traveled farther up, looking upon the large tower in the back of the city, and then his eyes moved to the right, and saw a large rock face… well, four of them actually.

Dante chuckled lightly at his son's expression. "So, what's your impression of the great village of Konoha?" he asked.

Naruto turned to him with an incredulous look on his face. "Uh… 'village'?"

Dante outright laughed this time. "Yeah, well, that's what they like to call it. This is Konoha, the Hidden Leaf Village. It probably started as a village, and then just grew. Probably woulda been a lot of trouble to change the name as it grew though, so they just kept it 'village'."

Naruto shook his head. Then he smiled as he looked at the cit… er, village again. "So, this is where I was born, huh? Seems as good a place as any," he commented.

Dante smiled, a bit of sadness creeping into it as he remembered the day his two friends had died. One had died giving birth to Konoha's salvation; the other had died doing the saving. "Yeah, it's a pretty nice place. Good food, interesting people… the works."

Father and son finally reached the gate, where they were met by a man with a dark green flak jacket on. Naruto remembered Dante telling him about this. _So, this guy is a ninja,_ he thought. The man certainly didn't look special, but Naruto could tell by the way he moved that this guy was pretty experienced with combat. The fact that he wore a flak jacket informed Naruto that this guy was a mid-level ninja, a Ch… Chunin! That was the word.

"Names, and business in Konoha, please," the Chunin said in a polite tone, but his body was tense at the sight of their weapons worn in plain sight.

Dante handed the ninja the letter from the Third Hokage, while saying, "Dante and his son, Naruto, here at the request of the Hokage."

The Chunin read over the letter, and saw that the seal at the bottom of the paper was indeed the seal of the Hokage.

He nodded. "You'll need to go see the Hokage now. If you'll come with me…"

"No need," Dante stated, walking past the Chunin, Naruto a step behind him. "I've been here before."

The Chunin stood blinking for a second, before shrugging and returning to guarding the gates.

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Dante led Naruto through the streets of Konoha as if he had lived there his entire life. Naruto simply stayed as close as he could, looking around at all the different people and buildings they passed. It wasn't long before he noticed the strange looks many were giving him and his father… but mostly him.

Dante looked at his son. He seemed somewhat bothered by the looks people were giving him. "Don't worry about them, Naruto."

Naruto, startled by his father's voice cutting through his thoughts, looked up.

Dante faced ahead. "It's probably not everyday they see someone with eyes that remind them of the demon that nearly destroyed their village." He smiled down at his son. "But, you're not the Kyuubi. They'll get over it."

Naruto smiled back. "Thanks, Dad," he said. He then noticed that they were nearing the large tower he'd seen earlier. "Is that where the Hokage lives?" he asked.

His dad shook his head, chuckling lightly. "Nah. That's the Hokage Tower. That's where the Hokage works, and watches over the village. But no, he doesn't actually live there."

Naruto looked up at the imposing structure, and snorted. "It's got nothin' on the Temen-ni-gru," he commented.

Dante found he had to agree.

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The intercom buzzed to life, finally giving him a reason to take a break from fighting his mortal enemy: paperwork.

"Hokage-sama," came the voice of the woman on the other end of the intercom, "You have visitors." The intercom clicked off.

As he stood, stretching his aging muscles, the door opened, and in walked Dante and a young blond boy with red eyes.

Sarutobi was completely unperturbed by the color of the boy's eyes, instantly knowing who he was. "You must be this, Naruto I've heard so much about from Dante," he said, walking over to the young man and extending his hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Naruto smiled and took the old man's hand, but his eyes held just a little skepticism. This old guy was supposed to be the village's most powerful ninja? He looked like he should have been sitting on his porch, yelling at 'young whippersnappers' to get off his lawn.

_Well, looks aren't everything,_ Naruto reminded himself.

"It's nice to meet you too, old man," Naruto said.

Sarutobi sweat-dropped. He gave Dante a deadpan expression.

Dante raised his hands in defense. "Hey, I've had more important things to teach him than crazy stuff like 'being polite'."

Naruto looked at the Sandaime with what would have been a completely innocent expression, had it not been for the mischievous glint in his eyes. "What? Did I do something wrong?"

"I rest my case," Dante said.

Sarutobi shook his head and chuckled. He then offered Dante his hand, which was promptly taken. "It's good to see that some things don't change. And it's even better to see you, my old friend."

"Hey," Dante said in an offended tone, "I'm not that old." Then he grinned. "It's good to see you too, Sarutobi."

The Sandaime smiled back, and, gesturing to a couple of chairs in front of his desk, said, "Please, have a seat you two. There's quite a bit to discuss."

The three sat and Sarutobi didn't waste any time. "I'm about to trust the both of you with an S-Class secret," he stated. "This information must _not_ leave the confines of this room."

Naruto closed his mouth, having discovered what 'S-Class' likely meant.

Sarutobi gathered himself before continuing. He wasn't sure about trusting this information with a twelve-year-old, but Dante had made it expressly clear in his reply to the Sandaime's letter that Naruto was not to be left out.

"A new hidden village had arisen in recent years. It is known as Oto, the Hidden Sound Village," Sarutobi began. "This, of course, would normally be nothing to be concerned with. But, until only a year ago, we were unaware of the identity of its leader. The Otokage, it turns out, is a man named, Orochimaru."

Dante's eyebrows went up. "No way… That loony has his own village now?"

The Sandaime nodded. "Now it…"

"Whoa, wait a minute," Naruto said. "Orochimaru… he's… from this village… right?" he asked, his face scrunching up in thought. He was sure his father had mentioned that guy in one of stories.

"That he is, Naruto," Sarutobi said, sadness lacing his voice. "He's one of the greatest ninja this village has ever produced… as well as one of its greatest traitors. And it seems that he's still bent on Konoha's destruction."

Dante snorted. "He still hung up on losing to Minato?"

Sarutobi shrugged. "Whatever his reasons, it doesn't matter. What matters is doing everything we can to stop him," he said. "This brings us to the matter at hand. Our spies have uncovered unsettling information. It seems that Orochimaru has been in contact with Suna, the Hidden Sand Village. Suna has slowly been losing business to us over the years, and they're getting pretty desperate." Sarutobi took a deep breath. "Oto and Suna are planning to invade Konoha."

Dante's eyes narrowed. "You're sure? Aren't Konoha and Suna allies?"

"As I've said, they're getting desperate. Perhaps they believe that if they can take us out, they can greatly improve their own standing, and begin making money again."

Dante nodded. Seemed like sound logic to him.

"I can't be certain of the exact timing, but we're hosting the Chunin exams in a little over a year. Many villages will be participating. It would be an excellent chance for them to strike, to show their strength to everyone else." He looked Dante in the eyes. "I know that it seems like a long ways off, and to be asking for you start staying now seems foolish, but I need all the time I can get to prepare, and I must know what resources I have to work with. You'll of course be provided housing, income…"

"Whoa, you're talking like you think we'll say no or something," Dante said. "Of course we'll help. Right, Naruto?"

"You bet!" Naruto said, a foxy grin adorning his features. "Just tell us what to do, and we'll take care of it!" He gave the Sandaime a thumbs-up. "And besides, this seems like a pretty cool place. I can't wait to see what the East is really like," he added, enthusiastically.

Sarutobi smiled wearily. "Thank you… both of you," he said, sincerely. "Now," he continued, while reaching under his desk and pulling up a few folders, "we have to make arrangements for you two."

He handed one of the folders to Dante. "This is the deed to your new house. I've been saving it for a rainy day."

Dante opened the folder, took one look at the quaint, one-story house in the picture placed over the deed itself, and his eyebrows nearly jumped off his face. "You're kidding!"

"I don't think Minato would really mind, do you?" Sarutobi asked.

Dante just blinked and shook his head, accepting the old man's generosity.

"And, Dante, so you won't get bored while you're staying here, I'm going to institute you as a Jonin in Konoha's ninja forces. After all, you'll need to make money somehow while you're here."

Dante stared a minute. "Um… thanks, old man," he said.

"As for you," Sarutobi said, turning to Naruto, who straightened a bit in response, "I imagine you're not exactly going to like this, but, I want to place you in the Ninja Academy."

"The Ninja… Academy?" Naruto said, uncertainly.

"Now wait a minute!" Dante yelled. "You want to stick my son in the Academy?! He could wipe the floor with any of the best_ Chunin_ in the village, probably even some of your Jonin, and you want to stick with _Academy students_?!" he exclaimed.

"Please, Dante, calm down. I have my reasons," Sarutobi stated patiently, having expected this argument.

"I'm listening," Naruto said, genuinely curious about the 'Academy'.

Dante looked ready to argue some more, but subsided at what his son said.

"Well, Naruto, the Academy is where young children go to begin learning about being a ninja. Most start when they're about six, and graduate when they're around thirteen. Were you to accept my offer, I would place you with the class that will be graduating next year."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "Closer to the Chunin exams. And, since I'd be a… a…"

"Genin," Dante provided, with bitter undertones.

Naruto ignored his father's tone, and continued, "… a Genin, I'd be able to enter the Chunin exams, and keep a better eye on things happening during the exam itself."

Both Sarutobi and Dante smiled at Naruto's perceptiveness. "Well done, Naruto," the Sandaime praised. "That's exactly what I'd had in mind. And beyond that, you'd be able to spend time with people your age, and learn more about our way of life out here."

Naruto gave him that same foxy grin, "You had me at, 'Well done', old man. You got yourself a deal."

Sarutobi smiled again. "Excellent. I'll get the paperwork in order. You'll start tomorrow. I'll send someone to escort you there in the morning. Now, however, you should go get settled in," he said.

"Sounds good to me," Dante stated, rising from his chair. "Ready, Naruto?"

"Yep," the boy said, getting out of his own chair.

"Well then, Sarutobi, I guess this means I'll have to come back here in the morning," Dante said.

Sarutobi nodded. "You'll need to come to me for missions every morning, unless I've said otherwise, or you're already on one."

Dante sighed. "Ah well." He headed for the door, Naruto right behind him. "Least I'll be getting paid regularly."

They closed the door behind them.

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_So, this is where the house I was born in,_ Naruto thought, staring at the house in front of him. The place itself was very unassuming. I was a simple wooden house, it was painted a darker shade of green, and it had a plain, old door.

His father took a deep breath beside him. "Well," Dante said, "let's see how well they've kept it clean."

Dante walked up to the door of his dead friend's house, opened the door with the key Sarutobi had given him, and stepped inside, Naruto close on his heels.

The inside was just as quaint as the outside. They'd entered the living room, a couch a few feet in front of them, a somewhat large coffee table a couple feet in front of that, a fireplace a few feet in front of _that_, and a comfy chair on either side of the coffee table.

There was a door on either side of the fireplace, and one on the right and left sides of the living room itself.

Dante pointed to the two doors next to the fireplace. "Bedrooms." Then the door on the room's right side. "Kitchen." And then the door on the room's left. "Bathroom." He turned to Naruto. "Got it?" he asked.

Naruto gave him a thumbs up. "Got it, Dad."

"Good," Dante responded. Then he yawned. "Well, I'm gonna catch some Z's." He headed to the left bedroom, waving at Naruto. "Do what you like," he said.

Naruto watched his father go, then shrugged, and headed to the right bedroom. They had been traveling for a couple weeks, and sleeping in an actual bed sounded pretty good to him.

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**Author's Notes**: Well, this is it. Chapter 1 of my first attempt at a story. So, you guys and gals hate it? Like it? Are completely indifferent towards? Please R&R! And don't worry about being gentle. I can take it.


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes****: **Wow… I have to say, I wasn't expecting so much positive feedback from you guys and gals out there. It was very encouraging. Also, I must apologize for the long wait on this chapter. The only real reason was the number of times I revised it, and even that isn't much of an excuse. I just hope you all can forgive me, and enjoy this next installment of Demons Never Cry.

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_**Chapter 2- First Impressions**_

Naruto awoke to the sound of someone pounding on the door to his new, sparse bedroom.

"Get up, kid!" came his father's voice from the other side, "Your escort's here!"

Escort? What was he—

_Oh shit, the Academy!_, Naruto realized. He all but leapt from his bed, and made record time throwing on his clothes from the day before. He spent a second considering whether or not to bring his weapons before deciding against it. Sure, it was a school for ninjas, but it was still a school, and he didn't think they'd take kindly to him walking in looking like he was searching for a brawl. So he left Dawn, Dusk, and his jacket that still had Force Edge strapped to it on the nightstand he had lain them on.

He came out of the bedroom, and was greeted by his father. "Took you long enough," Dante said, noting that Naruto lacked his weapons. _Probably a good idea_, he thought. Then he hooked a thumb at the door. "Now get going." He smiled at his son. "And good luck with your first day."

Naruto smiled back. "Thanks, and same to you," he said.

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Hinata was growing more nervous by the second. First, instead of her usual Hyuuga escort, she was being accompanied by a new woman. Not that she minded her at all. The woman was very nice to her. But then, she found out that they had to pick up someone else; a new student no less! But, who would be able to come in so late in the year? They had gone over so much… Did this person already have ninja training? And how would they react to her? Would they even notice she was there?

She shifted nervously in her thick, beige jacket with her clan symbol on the back, baggy, blue pants, and shinobi sandals.

She jumped a little when she felt a gentle hand on her arm. She looked up at her escort.

"Don't be so nervous, Hinata-chan," Kurenai told her. "I'm sure th…"

She was interrupted as the door opened. In the doorway now stood a young boy, who was dressed in a dark red shirt, navy blue jeans, black boots, and black, fingerless gloves with metal plates on the backs. He had spiky, blond hair that was nearly as bright as the sun, a very lean, athletic figure, strange whisker-like marks on his cheeks, and crimson eyes that were filled with a confidence and warmth that surprised Kurenai.

Hinata stared at the boy, unable to tear her eyes from him. _He's so handsome,_ she thought, blushing at such thoughts.

"Hi," the boy said, a foxy grin adorning his face as he held up his hand in greeting, "I'm Naruto." He closed the door behind him, and regarded Kurenai. "Are you the escort, the old m— Hokage was going to send?"

Kurenai smiled at the boy. "That's me. I'm Yuhi Kurenai, and I'll be walking both you and Hinata-chan to the Academy today. It's nice to meet you, Naruto-san," she said, warmly.

Naruto gave her a skeptical look. "Uh… it's nice to meet you too, but… where's this 'Hinata' person?"

Kurenai blinked. Then she looked behind herself at the girl pressed up against her back. "Hinata," she reprimanded lightly, "Don't be so shy. Introduce yourself."

Hinata peeked out from behind Kurenai, and found herself staring into eyes colored crimson, just like the sky at dawn. She tried to speak, failed, tried again, got the same result, and promptly returned to her hiding spot.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at the girl's strange behavior. _Man, either I'm really scary, or she's really shy,_ he considered.

Kurenai reached around and pulled Hinata, who made a squeak of protest, out from behind her. "Come now, Hinata-chan, is that how a lady should act?" she asked her young charge.

Hinata stood pushing her two forefingers together in a shy manner, trying to make words come out of her mouth.

Naruto saved her the trouble of speaking first. "Hey there, nice to meet you," he said, his foxy grin appearing once more. He put his hands behind his head, a very confident gesture, and said, "Name's Naruto."

She looked up at him, and wondered why her face was heating up even quicker than usual. "M-M-My n-name i-i-is H-Hyuuga H-Hinata," she said, the words stumbling from her mouth. She silently cursed herself for her horrid stutter, and hoped he hate her for it.

_Alright then, she's not really shy,_ Naruto told himself. _She's __**extremely**__ shy._

Kurenai smiled. "Well, now that we've all been introduced, let's get you both to the Academy, shall we?" She began walking down the street, and the two kids fell in step on either side of her.

The Jonin thought it was cute that Hinata kept stealing glances at Naruto as they walked. She could easily see the beginnings of a crush. As she thought of what it'd be like to see them form a relationship, a question entered her mind.

"Naruto-san," she said, getting the blonde's attention, "What's your surname? I don't believe I caught it."

He seemed thought about it for a minute. His father had told him who his biological parents were, so he knew he had a surname. But… "I don't have one," he stated. At Kurenai's inquisitive look, he added, "My dad doesn't use one. At least, I've never heard him use one. So, as far as I know, I don't have one."

Kurenai considered the way he responded. Then she asked, "Naruto, did your dad adopt you?"

"Yep," Naruto answered happily.

"Ah," Kurenai said, ready to leave it at that.

But someone else wasn't. "W-What h-h-happened to y-your real p-parents, N-Naruto?" Hinata asked.

"Dad told me that they were killed," he answered.

Kurenai looked at the boy, somewhat startled at how casually he said that his parents were killed. "And that doesn't bother you?" she asked.

"Not really," he responded. "It might sound kind of bad, but I never knew my parents in the first place. I haven't ever met them; don't know what kind of people they were. I'm sorry I didn't get to know them, but I'm happy with my adoptive father. That's all I really need to know," he told his companions. And it was true enough. While he knew the truth about their deaths, and Dante had regaled him with stories of them, he didn't feel a real sense of loss; beyond the fact that the world itself had lost such great individuals.

A couple minutes of silence passed between the three, as the girls contemplated what Naruto had told them. Then, Kurenai finally said, "Here we are."

Naruto looked at the large, dome-shaped building in front of them.

Kurenai turned and began walking away. "Hinata," she said, "show Naruto the way to your guys' classroom. I'll be back to pick you up at the end of the day."

Hinata blushed. She was going to be walking with Naruto by herself? Did he even want her to accompany him the rest of the way? She looked at the boy beside her, and found him smiling at her.

"Lead the way, Hinata," he told her, his crimson eyes warming her face even more.

"A-Alright," she acquiesced.

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"H-Here it i-is," Hinata stated, standing in front of a door. She reached for the knob, and opened the door to their classroom. She walked in first, and held the door open.

Naruto walked through, told Hinata, "Thanks," and then noticed that most of the room had gone deafly quiet as soon he had entered. He looked around… and found that nearly everyone was staring at him. He held up his hand in a wave, and said, "Hi."

Most of the class immediately broke out into hushed conversations. He could have listened to any one of them, if he wanted to, but opted, instead, to turn to Hinata to ask, "Hey, you mind if I sit with you? I don't know anyone else."

Hinata blushed some more. "S-S-Sure," she stammered. He wanted to sit with her! This day kept getting better.

She moved to her seat, and Naruto followed, increasingly aware of all the gossip forming around him? Snippets of conversations were heard as he moved through the aisle; "Who's the new guy…", "He's pretty hot…", "… guy like… a girl like her…", "What's with those eyes…", "…have some kind of bloodline?…", "Sasuke could beat him…"

That last comment really confused him. They had never seen him fight; how the hell did they know who could or couldn't beat him?

Hinata finally took a seat near the back of room, and Naruto sat right beside her. Hinata blushed more at the closeness. Naruto noticed that her face had reddened quite a bit in the past few minutes. "Hey, Hinata," he said, concern lacing his words, "Are you sick? You look like you have a fever; should I take you to a doctor?"

Hinata could only shake her head, unable to respond with actual words. Before Naruto could press further, the door opened again, and two girls rushed into the room. One of them had blond hair not dissimilar to Naruto's, while the other's was pink; and both were practically screaming at one another.

"Back off, Ino-pig!" the pink one wailed. "Sasuke-kun is mine! He isn't interested in annoying, pig-headed blonds!" She looked over to a boy with raven-black hair sitting alone, by the window. "Are you, Sasuke-kun?" she asked him, stars in her eyes.

Naruto sweat-dropped when Sasuke didn't so much as blink, much less respond. And he nearly face-vaulted when the two girls resumed their argument; with seemingly increased volume, no less.

"Does this happen, like, every day?" he asked Hinata. She nodded.

He gave her a deadpan look. Then he looked back at the two screaming girls. He would have to listen to this almost _every day_ for the next _year_?! "Son of a bi…"

His curse was cut short when the door opened once more, and in walked a man with his black hair tied in a ponytail, a scar across his nose, and one of those deep green flak jackets.

"Good morning, class," the man said.

"Good morning, Iruka-sensei," the class responded. Naruto was stunned to notice that the two girls that had been arguing when the man had entered were now in separate seats, and had answered in the exact same tone as everyone else. _Like some kind of cult…_ he observed, suddenly even more wary of the fact that he would be spending an entire year there.

"Today, everyone, we have the honor of accepting a new student," the teacher said, looking around the room. "Why don't you come down here, and introduce yourself?"

Naruto felt everyone's eyes on him as he stood and walked down the isle. He came to the teacher's desk, and Iruka saw his eyes. Fear flashed suddenly through his expression, but it was gone so quickly that Naruto thought he could have imagined it.

Iruka swiftly composed himself, and said, "Why don't you tell us your name, son?" The boy in front of him with the eyes that had haunted his dreams for years, turned to the class and said, "Hey there, my name's Naruto… and, uh…" he looked back at Iruka inquisitively.

The teacher seemed to think for a moment. Then he said, "How about you tell us where you came from, and why you decided to try and become a ninja?"

Naruto shrugged, and told the class, "I'm from a city in the West."

The classroom collectively gasped. _Okay,_ _seriously, that's creepy,_ Naruto thought.

Naruto continued, "And… well…" he obviously couldn't tell them that it was because the Sandaime had wanted him to be able to compete in the Chunin exams so that he could keep an eye out for traitors and the like. So he went with, "…my dad's been teaching me his own fighting styles, and I figured that ninja training would be a good supplement to my already existing skills." _Well, it's true enough,_ he thought.

"Um, well then, thank you, Naruto," Iruka said behind him. "Just stay there and form a line, because we're starting with taijutsu practice."

The students simultaneously rushed to the door, and formed a perfect, single-file line. Naruto sighed. _Now this is just ridiculous,_ he thought exasperatedly, _it's getting really hard to keep getting creeped out by the cult-like, 'hive-mind' thing they've got going, I mean come on… wait… what's 'taijutsu'?_

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Naruto smirked at the huge ring in front of him. _Oh, __**this**__ is taijutsu,_ he realized.

Iruka stood in the center of the ring, a student placed on either side of him. One wore a gray, hooded jacket, and smelled heavily of dog, and the other wore a red suit, and was a little on the chubby side.

"Begin!" Iruka yelled, immediately jumping out of the way.

Naruto had to admit, the chubby guy put up a fairly good fight, but whatever style he used relied on his strength and weight, while the dog-scented combatant was also strong, _and_ he was fast to boot. The dog-guy just wore the larger one down. But, he had noticed that the dog-boy lacked refinement, as he basically just slugged the big one a bunch of times until he went down.

_Whatever works, I suppose,_ he thought to himself. Naruto noticed that the gray-coated one sent him a small glare as he left the ring. Naruto just raised an eyebrow in response. _What the hell's his problem?_

It went on like that for a few minutes; Iruka would call a couple of students, they would fight (and not for very long), and he would call a couple more. None of the bouts amounted to much more than a few punches or kicks, and didn't really register on Naruto's scale of 'interesting'. Then…

"Hinata and Hananoki," the teacher called. Hinata faced a girl of average height and slender figure, who had her mahogany hair cut to just below her chin, and strikingly blue eyes. She was dressed in a forest-green dress that went down to middle of her calves, lacked sleeves, had slits down the sides that began about mid-thigh, and was decorated sporadically with light-blue flowers.

"Begin!"

The fight was pretty one-sided. Hinata's style was very effective. But, throughout the whole thing, Naruto that something was off; Hinata looked to be very uncomfortable with the way she fought: her form was rigid, and she seemed to be restricting the way she moved, despite the fact that it was unnatural. The other girl, Hananoki… well, it wasn't that she didn't fight. Her performance was just… bad.

"Now," Iruka yelled, "Sasuke and Naruto!"

A large section of girls cheered when Sasuke's name was called, so much that Naruto almost didn't here his own. But when he walked into the ring, excited chatter burst through the other sections of students; apparently, they wanted to see what the new kid could do.

Naruto thought about what Dante would do in this situation. It didn't take him very long to come up with an answer: He'd show off. _I'll make you proud, Dad,_ he thought.

Sasuke entered the ring and looked at Naruto with disapproval. He had to fight the new kid? He would wipe the floor with him.

Naruto smirked at the bored look on his opponent's face. He wasn't going to take this seriously was he? _Oh well, more fun for me._

"Begin!"

Sasuke ran directly at Naruto, intent on ending this so he could get back to more important things, like ignoring his fangirls.

The new guy just stood there, smirking like he knew something that Sasuke didn't. The nerve! It was as though he actually thought he could win! _Then I guess I'll just have to prove him wrong, _he told himself.

Sasuke threw a jumping, spin-kick at Naruto's face; he tilted his head back an inch and it missed. Sasuke used his momentum to fall into a sweep-kick; Naruto jumped in place, his legs inches above Sasuke's kick. Sasuke took the opportunity to rise into an uppercut aimed at Naruto's stomach; Naruto caught Sasuke's fist with both hands, and then twisted the raven-haired boy's hand to the left, while Naruto himself stepped right. Not expecting any real resistance out of his foe, Sasuke was spun into the air, rotating several times before a hard landing.

Many gasps were heard from their audience members.

Naruto chuckled lightly before saying, "Oh, sorry dude. That looked like it hurt. My bad."

Sasuke got to his feet, now sporting a bloody lip, and a bit of wounded pride. "Hmph. Not bad. But you should forfeit now. Before I start getting serious," he said as nonchalantly as he could. The truth was that fall had hurt quite a bit. But he certainly wasn't going to show it. The fangirls on the sidelines began shouting about how cool he was.

Naruto outright laughed this time. "Says the guy with the bleeding lip. I should forfeit just so I don't have to waste anymore of my time," he stated, an echo of laughter still in voice.

Sasuke went from annoyed to pissed in less than a second. "You're making fun of me? I am an Uchiha, one of the elite. And I'm going to wipe that freaking smirk right off your face," he snapped, rushing Naruto again.

Naruto's smirk was completely unfazed. He caught the fist Sasuke had sent flying towards him, and threw Sasuke straight into the air. He waited a couple seconds, then sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the Uchiha, who had landed on both feet, having righted himself in mid-air. Sasuke's fist came sailing at him once more; Naruto didn't bother trying anything fancy. He just presented the back of his fist, and held it.

Sasuke suddenly became aware of a cracking sound, and a sharp pain in his right hand. He looked at the offended appendage, and saw that instead of hitting Naruto's face, as it was supposed to, it hit the plated back of his opponent's glove. He jumped back, holding his wounded knuckles in his other hand. Luckily, it didn't feel like anything had broken.

Naruto's smirk never wavered, but he became a little nervous after that cracking noise; he didn't want to seriously injure the other kid. The nervousness faded when Sasuke flexed his fingers, apparently having recovered.

The last Uchiha scowled. _Now __**that**__ hurt,_ he analyzed. He'd pumped a little chakra into it to numb the pain, but he should probably get that checked out later. He looked up at his opponent, who still stood smirking, mocking his former pledge to wipe that smirk off Naruto's face. _I severely underestimated him,_ he admitted. The boy had countered every one of his attacks. Could Sasuke even beat this kid? _Of course you can,_ he firmly informed himself. _You're an Uchiha. You're not gonna let some upstart foreigner get the best of you, are you?_ But he still had doubts. Naruto was obviously adept at taijutsu. If only they were allowed to use ninjutsu as well…

Naruto was getting bored while Sasuke struggled with doubt. Maybe he should just end this. He'd wounded the Uchiha's pride enough for one day. Naruto decided it was his turn to rush Sasuke.

Sasuke barely even registered what happened next. Naruto seemed to disappear, then he was right in front of Sasuke's face, and then he was hit in the gut with battering ram. He flew across the room, and his back slammed against the wall; well outside the confines of the ring. Sasuke vaguely noticed that Naruto didn't possess a battering ram; he had hit hit Sasuke with his fist. _No way…_

Naruto looked at Sasuke for a moment longer, then he turned to walk out of the ring.

Everyone was gazing at him, their mouths agape. He'd just defeated the last Uchiha, without even breaking a sweat. Some of the girls were giving him looks that would have incinerated him if he were any closer. But some… some were looking at him with stars and hearts in their eyes; little did he know, that at that moment, the Naruto Fan Club was born.

Hinata had watched the whole fight in awe. Naruto had controlled that whole fight without even trying! Not only was he handsome, kind, and confident; he could back up his confidence with incredible skill. _If only I could be more like him,_ she thought.

"Hey, Hinata," Naruto said from only a couple feet away, causing her to jump. "Whoops, sorry," he said, putting a hand behind his head, his eyes closed as he grinned, "Didn't mean to startle you so much." Because of his closed eyes, he didn't notice the fierce blush on her face… or the glares some of the girls were now sending her.

He opened his eyes and said, somewhat nervously, "Um… you mind if I ask you a… kinda personal question? I mean, you don't have to answer if you don't feel comfortable, but…" he trailed off, looking away now, his hand still behind his head. She realized now how different it was from when he put both hands behind his head: when both were there, he looked very relaxed and confident; with just the one, he actually looked a little nervous.

"Of c-course, N-Naruto. You c-can ask whatever you w-w-want," she stammered out in response.

Naruto smiled. "Well… it's about the way you fight," he began.

Possibilities flooded her mind before she could stop them. What could he have to say about her fighting style? Most prominent (and depressing) among the ideas was that he was going to ask her why she was so horrible. First, her own family ridicules her inability to use the Gentle Fist, now Naruto was going to do the same. But before those thoughts could actually affect her…

"I don't mean to intrude or anything, but… who taught you that style, and why?" Naruto asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.

She blinked. Didn't he know? It was kind of hard to mistake her eyes, and— then she remembered. He was from the West. From what Kurenai had told her earlier, he'd just gotten here yesterday; it was unlikely he knew who her clan was.

Before she could begin her explanation, Iruka called up a couple more students, "Gisei and Raiden!" (A/N: Before anyone says something: No. Not Mortal Kombat's Raiden.)

"Oh," Naruto said disappointedly, "Why don't we wait 'til we have a break or something?"

"A-Alright," she said, a little disappointed herself. She liked that she had finally found someone who actually _wanted_ to talk to her. Now they were being interrupted. She repressed a sigh.

Naruto inspected the combatants. The one on the right, Gisei, was rather stocky for someone his age, but with muscle, not fat. He had bright red hair, deep brown eyes, and a rounded face. He had on a tan tank-top, baggy brown pants, and black shinobi sandals. Gisei looked completely serious, and he dropped into a fighting stance immediately.

His opponent on the left, Raiden, was built vey much like Naruto. Around five-feet tall, lean, and cut with muscle. He had short, jet-black hair that was slicked back, and his eyes were the color of perfectly cut amethysts. He wore a tight black T-shirt embroidered with the kanji for 'storm' on the chest, black jeans, and black shinobi sandals. _Hmmm, I seem to be noticing a theme,_ Naruto thought. Raiden, the polar opposite of his opponent, looked like he was out on a moonlit stroll; perfectly relaxed, an easy smile adorning his face, his thumbs hooked in his pockets. More feminine cries flew from the audience on his entry of the ring. _Damn, more of these obsessive women?!_ Naruto exclaimed in his head. _It's like there are whole freaking fan clubs, or something!_ _Oh well, at least Hinata isn't like that,_ he reminded himself, glancing at her.

It ended almost instantly. Both fighters stood still for a moment, and then Gisei was nearly on top of Raiden, moving far too fast for someone so bulky. Then Raiden was behind Gisei, his elbow where Gisei's neck had been, who was now falling to the ground, his eyes glazed over.

_Holy shit,_ Naruto thought, a fierce grin slowly spreading across his face. "Hinata," he said, getting the shy girl's attention, "Who is that guy?"

Hinata looked at Raiden. "Well, h-his name is H-Hatake R-Raiden. He was a-apparently a-adopted by Hatake K-Kakashi, but, I h-heard t-that they're m-more like b-brothers than anything. And… h-he's r-really good… at e-everything. M-Much b-better than S-Sasuke, though m-many are… r-reluctant to a-admit it," she told him as the object of their conversation walked out of the ring.

Naruto continued to grin. "I can't wait to fight him," he said, enthusiastic anticipation evident in his voice.

Hinata blinked up at him. He _wanted_ to fight that guy? But, he just saw what happened to that Gisei, didn't he? "Y-You w-want to f-fight him?" she asked.

Crimson eyes gazed at her like she was ten shades of crazy. "Are you kidding?" he asked in response. "Of course I do! It would be so much fun!" he said, enthusiasm in every word.

"B-But, y-you might l-lose," she said, immediately regretting her choice of words. "I-I-I m-mean, n-not that y-you would…"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at her. "So what if I do lose? At worst, that means I should train harder. I've got nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Either way, I get a good fight out of it, to test myself against someone I've never fought before, and an all around good time. And if I win, then I get the satisfaction of victory to go along with all that," he told her. Then he shrugged, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth as he did. "Seems like a pretty good deal to me."

Hinata was awestruck. She had always been so afraid of losing, because that was what her family hated. But, to Naruto, it didn't matter if you lost; you still gained something from it. He had given her so much to think about, and she hadn't known him very long at all.

"Alright, great job everyone," Iruka called. "Now, let's head outside to work on our accuracy."

Once more, everyone rushed to form a line, and Naruto was left thinking, _But, I didn't bring Dawn or Dusk with me..._ Naruto concluded that this was probably going to suck…

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Dante walked threw the door into the Hokage's office. "Yo, old man, you said something 'bout getting paid yesterday?" He looked around… and found three other people in the room with him and the Sandaime. Two of them, a black haired woman with red eyes and a black haired man with cigarette in his mouth, were staring at him like he was mad. The other, a man with silver hair, a face mask, and his headband pulled down around his left eye, had his nose buried in a little orange book. _Hmm, that guy looks kinda familiar,_ Dante thought, staring at the silver-haired guy.

He ignored the nagging familiarity, and addressed the group. "Hey there, guys and gal. 'Sup?"

Sarutobi just smiled at the white-haired man. "Dante," he greeted, "You're just in time. Please come over here so we can proceed with the introductions."

The silver-haired Jonin's head shot up. "Dante?" he said, confused. The Jonin looked towards him, and Dante saw the Jonin's one eye. He recalled him immediately.

Dante grinned at the sight of his old friend's most talented student. "Well, now, hey there Kakashi. You haven't gone and forgotten me, have ya?" he said, walking up to the young man, his hand extended.

Kakashi grasped his hand, somehow managing to smile with just the one eye. "Heh, like I could ever forget that particular beating. It's certainly good to you again," he said lightheartedly.

The other two Jonin almost collapsed. Kakashi, the infamous Copy Ninja, was casually talking about what was apparently a humiliating defeat, and he was doing it where they were within hearing distance.

Kakashi's expression became a little more serious. "The Hokage told me what happened," he said, somewhat uneasily. "If you're here, then…"

Dante smirked. "Yeah, I'll be sure to introduce you to 'im when I get the chance."

Kakashi eye-smiled again. "I'm looking forward to it. I'll be sure to bring my little brother with me."

It was Dante's turn to be surprised. "Huh?" he said.

"Oh, didn't you hear? I adopted too… well, sort of," Kakashi vaguely informed him. He scratched the back of his head and said, "It's kind of a long story."

Sarutobi chuckled, drawing the two back into the realm of the office. "Well, it seems that you two have much to discuss," he observed. He shifted through the papers on his desk. "I don't really have anything here that can't be taken care of by a team of Chunin or Kurenai and Asuma here, so I'll let the both of you have a day off," he told them. As Dante was about to say something, Sarutobi said, "Consider it your joint mission to get reacquainted; return at the end of the day for your pay."

Dante closed his mouth over his comment that he really needed the money he'd get from a mission. He looked to Kakashi, "Well, you heard the Hokage. Let's get outta here. I need to see if that old ramen stand is still around." He headed for the door, and his one-eyed companion fell in step beside him.

They exited without another word, Kurenai and Asuma gawking after them, completely lost.

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… And Naruto had been right.

He'd watched the other students throw five kunai and five shuriken with varying degrees of success. And, as he did, he became increasingly aware that his turn was approaching.

Naruto had never been any good with throwing weapons. At all. Dante had tried his best to teach Naruto how to properly throw, but had given up after a younger Naruto had tried throwing two kunai at once; he had thrown too wide, and let go to late. One scored his father's calf, and the other had come within a centimeter or so of his… private area. That's when Dante decided to start his gun training early; which had turned out to be one of the best choices he had ever made. Naruto was a natural with firearms, and starting earlier than anticipated had only helped his talent grow.

But, he didn't have Dawn or Dusk, the pistols his father had made especially for him. He would just have to try his luck.

"Naruto!" Iruka called. "You're up!"

He glanced over at Hinata, who had already gone (missing only three targets out of ten). She smiled shyly at him in encouragement, blushing all the while.

Naruto sighed, and headed up to the line a few yards in front of five wooden posts with bull's-eyes painted on them, each sporting nicks, scratches, and indentions. Iruka handed him the ten projectiles without a word, and walked a few feet behind him.

Naruto took a deep breath, gathering himself, and threw the five kunai, and then the shuriken.

Two of the kunai at least found the post they were aimed at; and one of the shuriken scratched its intended post. _All in all,_ Naruto comforted himself, _not my worst performance._

Iruka sweat-dropped at the boy's abysmal skill, while many of the kids behind him laughed (and some wailed in disappointment). Honestly, after that incredible taijutsu bout, Iruka had expected better of the new kid. The teacher sighed. _Well, at least he's got the taijutsu going for him… hopefully no one will ever ask him to toss them a pencil, or something…_

"Um, thank you, Naruto," Iruka said. "Next!"

Naruto sighed, and strode over to stand next to Hinata. "Well," he said to her as he approached, "that went about as well as expected."

Hinata looked up at him inquisitively. "I've never been any good at throwing weapons," he told her, shaking.

"Um, excuse me," said a feminine voice from his right.

He looked over to find that blond-haired girl from earlier, the one that had been in the midst of screaming match with the pink-haired girl over that Sasuke kid. _Uh-oh… well, this should be interesting at least,_ Naruto thought.

"You're excused," Naruto said. The girl just stared at him with a look that probably meant she was filing him under the folder that read, 'Dropped on Head as Child'.

Then her mouth quirked up at the edge. "Thanks," she responded.

Naruto resisted the urge to perform a facepalm. Had she _just_ gotten it? Oh, this was definitely going to be 'interesting'.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question… uh… Naruto?" she asked, a little nervously, likely because she nearly didn't remember his name. Which was perfectly fine with him; he couldn't have recalled hers if his life had depended on it.

"Sure… I guess," he said, shrugging. "Do you mind sharing your name first?"

She blinked, and said, sheepishly, "Oh! Right, sorry… I'm Yamanaka Ino. It's a pleasure to meet you." She offered him her rather delicate-looking hand.

He took her hand, finding that his prediction was wrong; she actually had a fairly firm grip. His opinion of her climbed up a notch.

"I'm Naruto… just Naruto," he told her. They released hands, and he said, "Now, I believe you had a question?"

She smiled an unsure little smile, and asked, "Um… well… your eyes… are they like, a Kekki Genkai, or something?"

Naruto blinked. "A what?" he asked.

Ino blinked this time. "You don't know? Oh, that's right, sorry, you said you were from the West earlier, didn't you?" she said, tapping her palm against her forehead.

"Yeah… I'm pretty new around here. Although, I do think I've heard that term before… doesn't it have something to do with families?" he responded.

"Yeah, there like…" Ino looked around, and spotted Hinata standing near them, "Well, take Hinata here, for example. She then added, quickly, "If, you know, you don't mind, Hinata."

Hinata blushed a little, and shook her head, saying, "N-No, I d-don't mind."

"Thanks! Alright, so…" Ino struggled a bit to find the right words. She had never really lectured somebody before. "You've noticed that Hinata's eyes are different most of ours right? That's because of a special trait that only her particular family has. No one else can use, and especially not possess it, because it's carried within a gene found only in her family's blood. That's why it's called a Kekki Genkai, or Bloodline Limit," she explained.

"Oh, so you're asking if these eyes are something only I possess," Naruto realized.

Ino nodded, and added, "And, if it wouldn't be prying, what it can do for you… like, what special abilities does it give you."

"L-Like mine," Hinata chimed in, surprising both Naruto and Ino, "allows m-me to see t-three-hundred-s-sixty d-degrees around me."

Naruto blinked. Then he considered how to answer; he didn't think they'd take the fact that he was actually half-demon very well. "Yeah, then, I guess this is my Kekki Genkai. They... um… well, I actually don't know… if it's the eyes themselves," he said, trying to come up with a lie in the heat of the moment.

Ino raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, then, what is it?" she asked.

Then Naruto thought of it. "It's because I have a secondary chakra system," he told the girls. It was true enough, he supposed; his demonic chakra was completely separate from its human counterpart. It was just that all he ever really used was his demonic chakra, even though Dante had made sure he was able to use his more stable human chakra to walk on trees, walls, water, etcetera.

Ino's eyes widened immensely. "Seriously?!" she nearly yelled. A secondary chakra system was completely unheard of in the shinobi world. Were all Westerners this cool?

It was Naruto's turn to raise his eyebrow. "Yes, seriously. Watch," he told her. He barely even thought about it, and a swirl of red chakra surrounded him for less than second, vanishing almost as quickly as it had appeared. "See?"

Both Hinata and Ino gazed at him in awe. That chakra had not only been an entirely different color than regular chakra, but it had felt multiple times more powerful as well.

Naruto grinned sheepishly at both of their expressions, and said, "Pretty neat, huh? It's a lot more powerful than my hu… regular chakra, but it's just as unstable. I can't really use it for anything even remotely considered 'delicate'." It was when he finished speaking that he noticed that his little display hadn't been limited to the audience he had intended it for; the entire class, whether they were in line, or waiting for the others to finish, was staring straight at him.

He mimicked his initial entrance to the Academy: he waved and said, "Hi."

They kept gawking at him until Iruka finally called them back to attention, so they could finish up target practice.

"Wow…" Ino said, still in shock. Then she recalled that she had let her curiosity lead her to interrupt Naruto and Hinata's conversation. So she said, "Um… sorry for bothering you two. I was just… curious… so, uh, bye." She began to walk away, intent on escaping before she could do anything else embarrassing.

"Hang on, Ino!" Naruto said, stopping the blond girl in her tracks. She turned to look at him. "Why don't you hang out with us? The more the merrier!" he said enthusiastically. Then he looked to Hinata and said, "Right, Hinata?"

The girl's eyes widened a little. "Uh… r-r-right…" she stammered. She already had enough trouble talking to Naruto; how was she going to do it with another girl that was at least ten times prettier than her around? Besides, she didn't really care for fangirls like Ino. _Then again,_ Hinata told herself, _she was nice enough before. Perhaps I'm being too hasty._ Hinata decided that she was being too judgmental. She smiled at Ino, reinforcing Naruto's words with her actions rather than her stuttered words.

Ino gave them one the brightest smiles Hinata had ever seen her wear. What was that about?

"You don't mind?" Ino asked them, a little more excitedly than she should have. But she didn't care; she had never actually been _invited_ to hang out with someone. She didn't have any really good friends; mostly just people she talked to at the Academy, and even then, she sort of asserted her presence on them.

But, Naruto, and even Hinata, had actually _asked_ her to be around them! _This is awesome!_ she thought.

"Not at all," Naruto assured her, a fox-like grin appearing on his face. Ino noticed that it went really well with his eyes.

"Cool," she said, smiling at him in return, trying not to sound _too_ happy.

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Once back inside the classroom, many noticed a slight change in the seating arrangement: Ino now sat next to Naruto and Hinata; Naruto in the middle seat, Hinata on his right, and the aforementioned Ino on his left. Naruto was currently engaging the two girls in a conversation about rocks… or something.

"But…" Ino squinted her eyes, confused, "how would you make music with rocks? That doesn't make any sense…"

"No, no, no," Naruto said, exasperated. "They don't _use_ rocks!"

"B-But, then w-why c-call it 'rock' m-music?" Hinata asked, just as confused as Ino.

Naruto paused. _Honestly, I'm not sure myself,_ he realized. "You know what, you're both going to come over to my house later. I have some CDs that you both have to listen to."

Ino grinned. "That sounds like fun," she said. She looked to Hinata, and said, "You in?"

Hinata nodded her head, smiling a little.

"Alright, class," Iruka said, effectively ending their conversation, "Let's begin today's lecture…"

He proceeded to discuss the founding of the Leaf village, and the rest of the great shinobi villages; Stone, Cloud, Mist, and Sand.

The rest of the day seemed to drag on forever. The lecture and questions finally came to end when the bell rang; Iruka ended the class with, "Be sure to practice your ninjutsu; we'll be reviewing those tomorrow!"

Naruto gave the teacher a blank look, and turned to look up at his two companions; then he asked, "What's a 'ninjutsu'?"

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Naruto, Hinata, and Ino all exited the Academy building with the other students.

"Don't worry about it, Naruto," Ino told the red-eyed boy, "I'm sure Iruka won't expect you to know those techniques. And besides, you've got the rest of the year to learn them! With me and Hinata helping you, I'll bet you'll master them within the week!"

Naruto looked at Ino's excited expression, then at Hinata's kind smile, and felt extremely reassured. He let out a sigh and said, "Whew, I'm glad I met you two; I wouldn't have had a clue about what I was supposed to do. Thanks." He flashed them both that same foxy grin, causing Hinata and, surprisingly, Ino to blush.

But he didn't notice the change in their facial color; he had spotted someone he _needed_ to talk to. "Excuse me, ladies," Naruto said, "I'll be right back."

Raiden was walking alongside Hananoki in companionable silence, as he read from a little orange book, seemingly not even paying attention to his surroundings.

"Hey!" shouted a voice from behind them.

Raiden and Hananoki turned to see that it was the new kid that had called out to them. The boy grinned like a fox would, and said, "Hi! I'm Naruto… Sorry if I interrupted, but, I wanted to ask you…" he pointed at Raiden, "…a question."

The amethyst-eyed boy raised an eyebrow. Then he marked his page, closed the book, and said, "Sure… Name's Raiden, by the way."

"And I'm Hananoki! It's a pleasure to meet you, Naruto," his companion chimed in.

Naruto continued to grin, now somewhat sheepishly, and said, "It's nice to meet you too. I know this is kind of sudden, but… well, Raiden, I want to fight you!"

Hananoki looked rather startled, but Raiden's eyes lit up behind his lazy expression. "Only if you don't mind doing it in… half an hour," he said. Then he added, "I'll need to grab a couple of things, first." He turned and began to walk away, waving back at Naruto as he said, "Meet me back here in thirty minutes; then we'll head somewhere better suited to a… 'little' spar."

Hananoki looked unsurely between Raiden and Naruto for a second, looked like she was about to say something, and then ran to catch up to with Raiden.

Naruto grinned. Thirty minutes would give him plenty of time to head back to the house and grab his own gear.

"Did you seriously just run up to that guy and challenge him to a fight?" Ino asked from behind him.

Naruto turned to look at the shocked expressions on the girls' faces. "Not really," he said, putting his hands behind his head, "All I did was tell him that I _wanted_ to fight him; he's the one that actually _suggested_ that we do it today. Which means I was right about him. Now come on, let's get back to my house so that can get my gear!" He began to jog towards his house.

Hinata and Ino both ran to fall in step on either side of the boy. "What do you mean, 'I was right about him'?" Ino asked as they jogged.

Naruto grinned mischievously and said, "That he's a fighter. Like me." His grin widened. "And _that_ means this _is_ going to be awesome."

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Dante and Kakashi sat on a couple of stools placed in front of the Ichiraku ramen stand.

"So, what's this about your 'brother'?" Dante asked as they awaited their orders.

"Hmm… where to begin…" Kakashi said, tapping his chin.

Dante sweat-dropped. "Well… how 'bout the beginning?"

Kakashi eye-smiled. "Oh, why not," he responded. "Alright, so, it hadn't been very long since Minato had died, and you took Naruto… maybe… a week, or so? Anyway…"

_Flashback_

_Kakashi walked through the empty, nighttime streets of Konoha in a daze. He was still reeling from the loss of both his sensei and his last teammate. Both had died in the battle with the Kyuubi; Minato had died merging the Kyuubi with his own son… Rin had been crushed by one of the beast's heels while trying to heal one of the wounded. Everyone he cared for was gone; did he even have anything to live for anymore?_

_Suddenly, lightning struck the ground a few feet in front of him, thunder crashing with the impact. It had created a small crater._

_Kakashi removed his arm from in front of his eye, and, once the ringing in his ears had ceased, he was able to hear crying, coming from…_

…_the crater?_

_He stalked forward, and found that there was a small baby lying in the crater, and it was indeed crying._

_Kakashi looked all around him, but, even with his senses extended, could find nobody else in the vicinity that could move quickly enough to put that poor child there. He bent over and lifted the child into his arms. The baby continued to cry, but it looked up at the one that had picked it up with strange purple eyes that vaguely resembled amethysts. _

_Kakashi looked around again and considered heading to the orphanage. But, his house was about a hundred feet away, while the orphanage was on the other side of the village._

_Deciding that there was no harm in taking the… (He looked down at the baby)… boy home with him for a night, he headed in that direction, trying to figure out how the child had seemingly appeared out of nowhere._

_Flashback End_

Kakashi continued, "The next day I took him to the orphanage, but they said they were just too full as it was, after the Kyuubi attack. So, I went to the Hokage…"

_Flashback_

"_I can understand your concern, Kakashi," said the Sandaime, "But, there's really nothing I can do."_

"_But, Hokage-sama, he's just a baby…" the young Kakashi argued._

"_I realize this, but my influence can extend only so far. If you want to find a home for the boy, you'll have to ask around yourself. Until then, I'm taking you off active duty," the Hokage said sternly._

_Kakashi's eye widened. "Wait, but…"_

_Sarutobi raised a hand, silencing the youth. "We do not know how long it will take you to find this child a home. And until you do, you'll have to take care of him. And caring for such a small child is no small task. I'll provide a weekly stipend if it becomes necessary," the old man said._

_Kakashi stood and stuttered, looking for some sort of argument, but, finding none, finally bowed his head and said, "Yes, Hokage-sama."_

_Flashback End_

"So, I asked around when I could," Kakashi added. "But, as the days, and then weeks, passed, he just… I dunno. Grew on me."

Dante grinned at that. He knew the feeling.

"Well, speak of the devil," Kakashi muttered. He got up and peered down the road, Dante joining him curiously.

Raiden saw Kakashi leaning out of the ramen stand, and grinned. "Hey bro," he said. Then he saw the white-haired man who was also peering at him.

Kakashi and the man stepped completely out of the stand, and Kakashi said, "Hello Raiden, Hananoki."

"Hi Kakashi-san!" the young girl said.

"I'd like you both to meet an old friend of mine," he stated, hooking his thumb at his companion. "This is Dante. Dante, this is my brother, Raiden, and his friend, Hananoki."

"Hey there," Dante said, raising his hand in greeting.

"Nice to meet you," Raiden said, as he began walking again, "But I really need to get home."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "What's the rush?"

Hananoki answered as she began to follow Raiden, "A new kid named Naruto said he wanted to fight. Raiden wants to grab his stuff first."

Dante and Kakashi traded a look, silently agreeing on their next activity: Seeing who's training was better.

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**Author's Notes****:** Alright, now that this is finally done, I can focus on the epic battle between Naruto and Raiden!.... Okay, so maybe 'epic' isn't the best adjective, but it'll hopefully be a lot better than the fight scene in this chapter. Don't forget to R&R please!


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes****:** I know this is the second time I've said it, but I'm sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter out. What with school, work, and trying to maintain a social life (ya know, the kinds of things that plague many of us fanfic authors) it's been tough finding time to work. I can only hope you all think that the wait was worth it.

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_**Chapter 3- A Way of Life**_

Kakashi led Dante through the woods of Konoha to where the kids were going to have their little spar.

"So, how do you know where they're gonna throw down?" Dante asked.

"Well, if your Naruto was the one who challenged Raiden, it's only natural that Raiden gets to decide the battlefield," Kakashi responded. He added, "That, and the fact that Raiden knows Konoha better than Naruto does."

Dante nodded, and then said, "Alright, here's another question: You said you found the kid in a crater that had been left by a bolt of lightning, right?"

"Yeah," the one-eyed Jonin answered, blandly.

Dante sweat-dropped. "Did that fail to strike you as, I dunno… weird? Abnormal? Not quite natural? Perhaps even a little odd?"

Kakashi looked back this time. "Of course it did. At first I scoured the town for his real parents, when I wasn't busy taking care of him myself. When I couldn't find them, I looked through the entire library, going through as many history books and old records as I could to see if something even vaguely related had ever happened. And in case you're wondering, no it hasn't. Not that we're aware of anyway. So I kept looking." He shook his head. "I look in every town I visit on missions, and I have yet to find any explanation."

"Does Raiden know how you found him?" Dante asked.

"No. I told him that he was orphan, and that I found him abandoned on the streets. I haven't told him the circumstances. They don't really hold much weight, seeing as how they don't even have a good explanation," Kakashi said.

Dante mulled that over for a moment, before deciding that Kakashi was probably right. Not much point in trying to explain something that you don't understand yourself.

"Here we are," Kakashi stated.

Dante looked around the clearing in the woods. The only distinguishing feature seemed to be the three wooden posts that stood in the middle.

Kakashi turned and looked at his companion. "This is Training Ground Seven. Raiden and I come out here for sparring," he said. Then he looked at the trees around them and said, "Why we don't we stay out of view? Wouldn't want to pressure the boys with our presence."

He and Dante leapt into the trees to wait.

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The combatants arrived on the field a few minutes later.

Dante noticed that Raiden had made a couple of additions to his attire: the boy had added a generic ninja utility belt, lined with pouches that no doubt contained plenty of shuriken, kunai, etcetera. What interested Dante the most, however, were the weapons sheathed at his hips: the kid had somehow acquired a pair of hudie shuangdao- also known as butterfly swords. The swords were native to regions south of the Elemental Nations, and he didn't think that they were all too interested in foreign trade. He'd have to inquire with Kakashi later.

_Wherever he got them, it's obvious that this kid's into weapons too,_ Dante examined. _Bet Naruto's practically shakin' in anticipation._

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In fact, Naruto _was_ shaking in anticipation. His hands were all too eager to draw Force Edge from its improvised sheath and start the battle. He'd put on his light, black jacket and the belt that holstered Dawn and Dusk as soon as he got home, and then he'd practically bolted back to the Academy, where Raiden and Hananoki had already been waiting. Naruto stopped right as he entered the clearing, his companions Ino and Hinata stopping just behind him.

Raiden was much more composed as he and Hananoki took their places at the far edge of the clearing, his face locked in that easy smile of his. Inside, however, he was just as giddy as Naruto was.

Naruto cracked his knuckles, and then his neck, and asked, "You ready, Raiden?"

Raiden raised an eyebrow over one of his amethyst eyes. "Only if you're done warming up, Naruto," he replied. His hands moved towards his blades-

And Naruto shot forward with a cry of, "**Stinger**!" Force Edge poised at his side with his right hand. His crimson eyes gleamed as similarly-colored energy surrounded his blade.

Raiden's eyes widened at Naruto's sudden burst of speed, and he leapt to his right, barely escaping Naruto's thrust… but not the release of the energy stored in the blade. Force Edge flashed a bright red, and power burst from the sword in every direction but backwards, shielding Naruto himself from the effects.

Raiden was caught in the middle of his dodge, and was thrown a considerable distance into the air. Naruto took a moment to admire his handiwork, but Raiden righted himself in midair, and he brought his hands together and started tangling his fingers together in a series of odd formations. Naruto cocked an eyebrow and wondered what his opponent was doing.

Then the amethyst-eyed ninja's hands suddenly stopped, and he shouted, "**Lightning Release: Bolt**!" as he thrust his left hand at Naruto.

The crimson-eyed fighter was suddenly struck by a lighting bolt in the dead center of his chest. He hurtled back with a cry of surprise and pain, skidding a good distance across the ground before he flipped him self back to his feet. He put his hand to his chest, and looked up his opponent, who'd by this time landed, and was gazing at Naruto with the same smile he'd worn since Naruto had met him, but this time his eyes glinted with humor.

"You shouldn't be so hasty, my friend," Raiden reprimanded. "After all," he added, "those rumors are completely untrue. Lightning _can_ strike the same place twice." With his little piece said, he finally drew his own weapons, holding both upside-down in his hands.

Naruto's instincts kicked in and he immediately began to measure the blades in his opponent's hands. The blades looked to each be about twelve inches long, maybe four inches wide; the hilts were probably around five inches long, with a cross-guard to protect the wielder's fingers. Naruto blinked. "You're gonna fight with a couple of elongated butcher knives?"

Raiden frowned, but the glint of humor in his eyes remained. "Their names are Hirameki (Flash)," he spun the blade in his right hand around, "and Shougeki (Crash)," he twirled the one in his left hand this time. Then he tilted his head, and asked, "What's that guy's name, by the way?"

Naruto blinked again. He'd never really thought of his sword as a 'guy', but… "Force Edge," he replied.

Raiden's easy smile returned and he nodded once. "Not a bad name for a sword like that," he stated. And then he launched himself forward.

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Ino and Hinata both continued to gaze wide-eyed as the two combatants began their next engagement. Naruto swept his sword down at Raiden's head, who responded with a simple high block with Shougeki, and stabbed at his opponent's exposed stomach with Hirameki. Naruto swatted the thrust aside by utilizing the metal plate on his glove, and then he dragged his blade off of Raiden's and spun himself right at the same time, using the momentum to powerfully sweep his blade across Raiden's chest.

But Raiden ducked, and swung his swords together in a scissor-slash at Naruto's calves, causing Naruto to promptly jump in place. Raiden used the opportunity to twirl his swords around so that they were right-side-up in his hands, and he executed another scissor-slash at Naruto's upraised legs.

However, Naruto brought Force Edge down in a powerful arc, forcing Raiden to alter his strike into an x-block. But Naruto's swing was stronger than he'd been ready for, and his block crumpled under the force of it.

His opponent stunned, Naruto pounced on the opening, and delivered a ferocious uppercut to Raiden's chin.

Raiden flew into the air once more, this time with a grunt of pain. Unlike before, he didn't right himself in the air, and he landed hard on his back.

Naruto cracked his neck, and said, grinning, "That was for the lightning bolt."

"Fair enough," Raiden responded as he kicked his legs up and flipped into a low crouch. His smile was back in place, even with a big red spot on his chin.

"Wow," Ino whispered, astounded. She was certain that Sasuke would've been taken out by that lightning jutsu, let alone Naruto's uppercut or, especially, that sword technique he'd used at the beginning. Was the last Uchiha really so outclassed? More importantly, she realized, did she really care?

Before she could ponder further, the two charged each other again, their blades dancing with their own particular styles; Force Edge brazenly slashed and stabbed with all the power and subtlety of an enraged lion, as it tried to cleave its wielder's opponent in two. In contrast, Shougeki and Hirameki weaved around each other in a web of defense as they searched for opportunities to dart in and strike at their adversary, much as a pair of wolves might work together to take down especially large, or dangerous, prey.

Ino was surprised to find that Raiden's nimble strikes always seemed to miss their mark; Naruto seemed prepared to defend any opening that appeared as a result of his brash maneuvers. Force Edge seemed to appear just in time to block one of Raiden's cuts, and then its hilt knocked away the blade that had been about to stab Naruto's side, which would lead Naruto to respond with a thrust of his own. And so it went, back and forth between the fighters, neither gaining an edge, and neither backing down.

"Amazing," Hananoki said from right beside her.

Ino and Hinata both jumped, Hinata even letting out a little squeak of surprise. When had she moved over to their side of the field?

If Hananoki noticed that she had startled, she didn't show it. Instead, she looked over to the other two girls and asked, "How is your friend doing that?"

"What do you mean?" Ino inquired in response.

"He's blocking everything Raiden throws at him, and still finding enough room to launch his own attacks," the mahogany-haired youth said. "I've never seen anyone do that. Even Kakashi has to use two weapons against him."

"Well, don't ask me," Ino told Hananoki. Looking to Hinata, Ino asked, "Any ideas?"

Hinata was a little surprised that she had been asked. Outside of the Academy, she'd never really been asked her opinion on anything. "I-I'm not sure e-either…" she answered dejectedly. She'd tried activating her Byakugan earlier, and Naruto's movements had still confounded her.

Hananoki crossed her arms and frowned. "Well…" she began, apparently thinking something through very thoroughly, "… I guess we'll have to avoid sword-fighting him, if it comes down to it."

Both Ino and Hinata performed their best face-plants.

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Naruto hadn't had so much fun in years. Back west he had never had met anyone outside of Dante (and a couple of demons he'd met in the Temin-ni-guru) that was even decent at swordplay, and on his second day in Konoha he'd met someone who wielded his blades like an expert! He wished life could always be this good.

And then Raiden flipped the sword in his left hand right-side-up and came at him with another scissor-slash. But this time he executed the maneuver vertically, his left hand coming down on his head, his right aiming for his groin. _Clever,_ Naruto thought, _But not clever enough._

Naruto clenched his left hand into a fist and gathered his demonic chakra as he yelled, "**Shock**!"

His fist slammed the ground beneath his own feet, and power erupted from the earth, creating a large, crimson shockwave.

Raiden had sensed the gathering energy, but as he seemed to do every time, he misjudged just how much power was actually behind each of Naruto's techniques. The blast hammered into him, and he was thrown across the field into an unfortunate tree.

Someone in the background gasped, but Naruto didn't pay attention to it. His opponent was already gaining his feet.

Raiden took a moment to try and come up with a new strategy. Naruto's swordsmanship was excellent, and he was able to complement it extremely well with that powerful, red chakra of his. _Perhaps the first step should be getting that sword away from him,_ Raiden considered. He resisted the urge to smirk as he thought of the perfect technique for the job.

Naruto watched with confusion as Raiden sheathed his weapons. Was he going to forfeit already? They'd just started! Those thoughts were quickly crushed, however, and his confusion turned to cautiousness as his opponent began to tie his fingers in a vast array of knots again.

Naruto thought he was going to launch another lightning bolt, but instead Raiden rushed him, his fingers blurring in a flurry of motion. Naruto reacted with his usual strategy for dealing with rushing foes; he held his ground in a defensive stance, and prepared himself to meet force with force.

His reaction was exactly what Raiden had expected from the crimson-eyed blonde. Naruto certainly didn't seem one to back down in the face of a challenge.

When Raiden was only a couple of feet from his adversary, Naruto swung his blade down at his enemy's head, hoping to change Raiden's course. Instead, Raiden flipped his palms up at Force Edge and yelled, "**Lightning Release: Magnetic Field**!"

Naruto's strike was halted in mid-swing, and then Force Edge was torn from his grip, flying somewhere behind him.

Before he could react beyond thinking, _Fuck,_ Naruto's gut was assaulted by a long series of powerful, lightning-quick punches. As the flurry reached its conclusion, Raiden jumped and spun in place. Naruto was sure he was about to be kicked in the face, and prepared to defend himself, but instead of kicking, Raiden let himself fall to the ground and complete another rotation. But instead of the sweep-kick Naruto had expected this time, the amethyst-eyed boy rose with his momentum and hammered his fist into Naruto's now unprotected face.

It was Naruto's turn to soar towards, and crash into, an innocent tree.

Raiden was unable to resist the urge to smirk this time. "That was for the shockwave," he said, mimicking Naruto's earlier tone.

Naruto climbed to his feet and, with a smirk of his own, replied, "Fair enough."

Then Raiden's hands blurred to the pouches on his belt as he went on to the next phase of plan: ranged combat.

Naruto grinned in anticipation as he quickly realized what Raiden was doing when he caught sight of a glint of steel rise from the pouches on his opponent's belt.

His fingers twitched as Raiden threw ten shuriken at him. Then his hands moved, far faster than Raiden's had, and drew Dawn and Dusk from their holsters.

Raiden cocked an eyebrow as all ten of his shuriken were deflected by pea-sized spheres of chakra that leapt from the devices in Naruto's hands. He was fairly certain that Naruto's aim was horrendous, considering his performance at the Academy. _Then again,_ he told himself,_ those were throwing weapons._ He eyed the devices in Naruto's hands. _Something tells me you're not supposed to throw those._

Naruto grinned at Raiden's look of confusion. "I've never been any good at throwing stuff," he explained, "so Dad decided to try teaching me how to use guns," he twirled the devices in his hands, "earlier than he'd intended." He crossed his arms and pointed the pistols at Raiden, saying, "I found it much easier." He squeezed the triggers.

Raiden was already on the move, having deciphered that being positioned directly in front of the 'guns' was a fairly bad idea.

The amethyst-eyed combatant spent the next minute darting around the field, dodging and deflecting the bullets of chakra with expertly-aimed shuriken.

As he did, he reevaluated his opponent: Naruto was not only a masterful swordsman; his marksmanship was excellent as well! Naruto used both guns in perfect synchronicity. He would shoot directly at Raiden with one of them, and use it to guide Raiden into a stream of fire from the other, trying to box the amethyst-eyed boy in.

It didn't take very long for Raiden very long to figure out that he was going to be at a severe disadvantage if he limited himself to using shuriken. With Naruto's weapons being supplied by chakra, he guessed that he would run out of projectiles long before Naruto ran out of ammunition. So he went with option number two; something Naruto seemed to be lacking in: ninjutsu.

He altered his course in mid-sprint, heading straight for Naruto. He flipped through the five necessary hand-signs as he maneuvered through the hail of bullets, and then he thrust out his left hand and shouted, "**Lightning Release: Bolt**!"

Naruto had seen the telltale finger-twisting and had been prepared for another such attack. He leapt to the right of the lightning bolt, attempting to flank his enemy.

However, Raiden had likewise been prepared for that maneuver; he had already completed the hand-signs for his next technique. He twisted towards Naruto and, flipping his palms out again, yelled, "**Lightning Release: Nerve Pulse**!"

A wave of electricity engulfed Naruto, but he didn't feel any real pain; instead, all of his muscles spontaneously contracted and locked up. He tried to overcome the sudden lack of control over his muscles, but to no avail.

Raiden leapt at the opportunity and rushed Naruto with a burst of speed that Naruto hadn't seen from him the entire length of the match. Which meant that he'd been holding back; and seeing as how this was only a friendly spar, he likely still was.

Naruto realized then that he didn't have to feel bad for doing just that.

Naruto performed to Raiden's expectations and beyond. Just as Raiden came upon the crimson-eyed blonde, the Westerner forced his body back under his control, and launched a desperate punch; quite a bit faster than Raiden had anticipated. But if Raiden prided himself on any of his abilities in battle, it was his speed.

Raiden launched himself into a flip, and brought his heel down at Naruto's head. Not to be shown up, however, Naruto grabbed the offending foot, and moved to slam Raiden's face into the earth. But Raiden's hands shot out and stopped Naruto's throw short. Then he twisted, releasing his foot from Naruto's grasp, and lashed out with the other leg.

Naruto responded with a high block, which Raiden used to flip back to a crouch, where he began yet another series of hand-signs. Intent on stopping him, Naruto snapped a kick at his opponent's unprotected face.

Raiden swiftly executed a back-flip, while still twisting his fingers through the hand-signs. When he landed, he cupped his hands and, pointing them at Naruto, cried, "**Lightning Release: Arc Lightning**!"

A stream of lightning flowed from Raiden's fingertips, intent on engulfing Naruto. But the crimson-eyed boy had expected such an attack, and had prepared accordingly. With his arms crossed, the backs of his hands presented to oncoming storm, and his demonic chakra molded and shaped as tightly as he could hold it, he yelled, "**Block**!"

The wild stream of lightning met a solid sphere of red energy. And no matter how hard the flow of electricity tried to devour the crimson orb of defense that Naruto had erected around himself, the sphere held firm.

Raiden felt something strange as soon as his technique encountered the red energy: his chakra began draining a bit faster than it should have. His jutsu ate up quite a bit of chakra anyway, but he could tell that there was more to Naruto's defense than just stopping attacks. Intrigued, he upped the ante; throwing more power behind his blast of lightning.

And there it was again; the feeling that just a little bit more of his chakra than was normal was being taken from him. He stopped his jutsu, taking a deep breath as he felt the consequences of using so much chakra in so little time.

He gazed at Naruto, who looked none the worse for wear after using such a strong defensive technique, and tried to figure out what else that defense was for.

Naruto, meanwhile, cracked his neck as he grinned at Raiden's attempt to decipher the only defensive technique Dante had taught him. Feeling generous, he decided to give his opponent a hint; he lifted his hands and tugged at his gloves, making it look like he was only adjusting them to a better position.

Raiden's eyes widened as when he saw the gloves; particularly, the metal plates attached to them. He reached out his senses, and found just what he'd expected: the plates now contained a very high amount of chakra! And he was sure they hadn't been supercharged like that before. Suddenly very wary of what Naruto would be able to do with those, he assumed a defensive posture to think of his next move.

But before Raiden could even finish positioning himself, Naruto was on top of him, his left fist coming in an uppercut towards Raiden's gut as he cried, "**Release**!"

Raiden had never, _never_, been hit even remotely as hard as when Naruto's fist hammered into him. The impact, assisted by an immense amount of chakra, lifted Raiden high into the sky.

But Naruto wasn't finished yet. He followed Raiden into the air, and ended up just a couple inches above his target. Naruto lifted his right hand and, with another cry of, "**Release**!" brought it down as a palm strike to his opponent's back.

Raiden's limp form hit the earth with a resounding crash, kicking up a large dust cloud in the process.

The three girls on the sidelines collectively gasped, and Hananoki even shouted, "Raiden!"

Naruto landed just as the dust settled. Raiden was lying face down in a nice-sized crater. He didn't even twitch.

_Um… Did I over do it?_ Naruto thought. Worried that he'd gotten to into the fight and let himself go a little too much, he ran over to Raiden's side. He kneeled down and turned over his opponent's limp form.

And just as he did, Raiden's eyes snapped open, and he clamped Naruto in a hug. Before Naruto could consider the strangeness of the amethyst-eyed ninja's actions, Raiden's entire body exploded in a burst of lightning, engulfing Naruto in immense, muscle-convulsing pain. The crimson-eyed fighter collapsed in place.

And then he felt himself being pulled up by strong, familiar arms. He managed to lift his head and found himself looking at his father's grinning face. "Dad?" he asked in a slightly slurred voice; the lightning had numbed his entire body to one extent or another.

"Quite a show you put on there, kid," Dante praised him. Then he looked past Naruto, and the blonde turned his head to follow Dante's gaze.

Naruto saw Kakashi helping an obviously pained Raiden limp out of the woods behind him as he clutched an arm over his stomach.

Raiden noticed how hard it was for Naruto to stand on his own and, his easy smile adorning his face once more, he explained, "Lightning clone."

Naruto smiled back at his new friend and said, simply, "Cool."

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After much deliberation (and after the girls berated the boys for taking their 'little spar' _way_ too far) the group decided that it was time to eat. Kakashi and Dante led the kids to the Ichiraku Ramen stand, where they left them alone while they strolled around Konoha to give the kids some more time to themselves.

Dante decided to start the inevitable conversation by asking, "What'd ya think?"

"I think he fights a lot like you do," Kakashi responded. He thought for a moment and added, "And he looks a lot like him."

Dante nodded; Naruto definitely took after the Fourth in his appearance. "About his heritage… I told him everything," he told Kakashi.

Kakashi eyed him and asked, "Do you regret it?"

"Absolutely not," the white-haired man stated.

The one-eyed Jonin nodded. "Then I trust your judgment. He can obviously take care of himself," he said. "Although… his technique could certainly use a bit of refinement. A little finesse wouldn't hurt."

Dante turned a skeptical look on his companion and argued, "You're kidding, right? The kid's got power; finesse might work for you and your bro, but Naruto doesn't need it. You saw how well he did against Raiden and his dual-wielding technique."

"And he could only get better by adding some refinement to all that power," Kakashi retorted. Then he turned to Dante, completely serious, and stated, "I've registered to become a sensei. I understand that Naruto will be graduating with this class; I'd like to request that Naruto be on my squad."

Dante wasn't surprised by Kakashi's desire to take on his son as a student. In fact, he'd expected it. There was only one reservation about the idea.

"Does this have anything to do with Minato?" he asked quietly, as serious as the one-eyed Jonin.

Kakashi kept himself from looking away as he answered, "A little. But I truly think Naruto could benefit under my tutelage. I won't bring it up with the Hokage if you don't like the idea, but I swear that my personal feelings won't come into the equation."

Dante couldn't help a little smile that crept across his face. That'd been the answer he'd expected.

"Well… I suppose if he's going to be learning ninja techniques, he might as well learn from the best," he told his one-eyed friend with a wink.

Dante wasn't sure how he managed it, but Kakashi was able to smile back at him through the mask with just his one eye.

"Thanks," Kakashi said.

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Hananoki supposed she should've been used to it after having known Raiden for so long, but she still couldn't help but be slightly surprised; Raiden always ate a _lot_ after a particularly strenuous workout. He'd finally stopped at eighteen bowls.

What really surprised her though was the fact that Naruto was currently finishing his _twenty-fifth_ bowl of ramen.

The group of five took up the majority of the ramen stand's seats, leaving only two seats open for any other customers. Hananoki sat in the left-most seat, with Raiden, Naruto, Ino, and Hinata to her right, in that order.

Hananoki looked past Naruto at his female companions, and saw what she had expected; they were both staring wide-eyed at Naruto with a sort of morbid fascination.

"That can't possibly be good for you," Ino whispered, as if she were afraid of disturbing Naruto's feast. Hinata merely nodded in agreement with the blonde.

Raiden just shook his head, having given up on the unannounced eating contest he and Naruto had engaged in upon their arrival.

He perked up when he heard a familiar laugh emanate from outside the stand's curtains. He quickly said, "Excuse me," and exited the confines of the eating establishment.

His suspicions were proved to be correct when he spotted a girl in a pink, sleeveless shirt with short yellow straps adorning the front at regular intervals, black pants that ended just above her ankles, blue shinobi sandals, and a Konoha ninja's headband tied around her forehead.

Her earthen-brown hair was tied up into double-buns, as it normally was (Raiden had never seen her with her hair down), and her hazelnut-colored eyes lit up when she noticed him stepping out of the ramen stand.

"Raiden!" Tenten exclaimed, as she bounded over to her best friend. She stopped short when she noticed the bruise on his chin and the scuffs and scratches on his clothing (which just so happened to include his weapons). But mostly she noticed his eyes; those gems he used as eyes were shining just a bit more than usual. That could only mean one thing…

She cocked an eyebrow and, with a slight smirk, asked, "Have fun?"

"You have no idea," Raiden responded, the glimmer in his eyes growing a bit shinier at the thought. Then he snapped his fingers and stated, "That reminds me." He reached through the curtains he had just stepped out of, seemed to grab something, and then pulled.

And Tenten was suddenly staring at a boy of Raiden's height and build, but this guy had bright blond hair, crimson eyes with slightly slit pupils, three ragged lines that resembled whiskers on each of his cheeks… and a mouth full of ramen noodles.

"Tenten," Raiden began nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just torn someone away from their meal, "this is Naruto. He's new here. Naruto this is my old friend Tenten."

Naruto quickly gulped down the noodles, then reached into the stand as Raiden had, and pulled out a napkin. He wiped his mouth and hands clean, and then put the napkin back wherever he'd taken it from. Only then did he extend his hand to the hazelnut-eyed girl with a strangely fox-like grin, and say, "Nice to meet you, Tenten."

She smiled at the stranger's behavior and shook his hand, saying, "It's nice to meet you too, Naruto."

Naruto looked between Raiden and Tenten and said, "Um… can I go back to eating now?"

Raiden promptly shoved him back into the ramen stand, to his vocal protest of, "Hey!"

Tenten hadn't failed to notice that Naruto had been wearing a sword on his back, as well as his own scratches and scrapes. She looked to Raiden and asked, "He's the guy, huh? Fairly good, I take it."

Raiden just looked at her with that easy smile she had grown so used to, and said, "Nope. He's even better."

Tenten widened her eyes and let out a low whistle. "Damn," she muttered. She eyed the blades sheathed on her friend's hips, and asked, "How'd they do?"

The amethyst-eyed boy unsheathed Shougeki and Hirameki, and twirled them around a couple of times before saying, "They were the best weapons I've ever had the privilege to wield." He looked at Tenten with a true smile that made his eyes glow, and added, "I can never thank you enough."

Tenten tried her best not to blush at the look Raiden was giving her; the same look he'd had when she'd given them to him. She always liked when her work was appreciated, but she was even more proud when Raiden voiced his approval. It didn't help that she'd forged those blades by herself (her very first solo forging), especially for him, and to know that he liked them so much made her nearly burst with happiness.

She did her best to hide her giddiness by putting her hands on her hips, and telling him, "You don't have thank me, idiot. They were a birthday present; just be sure not to break them or something."

Raiden put the weapons back in their sheaths, and the easy smile back on his face. "I'll do my best," he said. Then he seemed to recall something, and asked, "So, how was your mission?"

Tenten was a little confused for a moment, until she realized she'd completely forgotten that she had just returned from her first C-Rank mission with her Genin squad. She frowned as the details of the mission returned to her in force.

Noticing the look on the young girl's face, Raiden gained a slight frown of his own, and he asked, "What's the matter, Tenten?"

Before she could even think of an excuse to not respond, a strong hand fell on her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder to see her sensei smiling down at her.

"While I admire your youthful desire to visit with your friend after your first successful C-Rank mission, Tenten, we really must be on our way to the Hokage," said Gai.

Tenten looked at her teacher's eyes and saw understanding in them; he must have overheard her conversation with Raiden. He must have realized that she wasn't ready to discuss the details yet.

Gai turned his head to look at Raiden, and he exclaimed, "It is good to see that you remain as youthful as ever, Raiden! You look as if you have just come from a splendid battle!"

Always the perceptive one, Raiden picked up on the fact that Gai was trying to divert the conversation away from whatever Tenten's dilemma was. Deciding that if it was important enough that Gai would interfere on Tenten's behalf, Raiden let it go, reforming his easy smile and turning it to Gai.

"Splendid' is such a strong word… And it describes the battle perfectly. I'll have to regale you with the story later," Raiden responded.

Gai wasn't a Jonin for no reason; he knew Raiden was only playing along… and reluctantly at that. It's not as if the squad leader could fault Kakashi's younger brother for anything. In fact, he was extremely glad that someone outside of Tenten's father cared so much for the girl. And he was even more impressed that Raiden was even willing to give her the time she needed to get her feelings straight… even if he didn't know that's what he was doing.

_I knew there was a reason I liked the kid so much_, Gai thought to himself. He grinned at Raiden, telling him, "You can tell me about it when we have that sparring match you asked for. Perhaps tomorrow after the Academy lets out?"

A little of Raiden's actual smile returned at that; sparring with Gai was always an enjoyable experience. "I'm looking forward to it," he said. He gave Tenten one last glance, which she avoided, and added, "Sorry to keep you guys. I'll let you be on your way." He stepped back through the curtains, signaling his exit from the conversation.

Gai looked down at Tenten, who just stared at the ground, trying to keep herself from imagining blood spattered at her feet.

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"Oh, are you done talking to your girlfriend?" Hananoki chided Raiden as he sat back down.

Naruto nearly choked on his current intake of noodles. When he had managed to swallow them without killing himself, he pointed accusingly at his new friend and almost yelled, "That was your girlfriend?! Ya coulda said something!"

The amethyst-eyed boy heaved a sigh, shook his head, and said, "Sooner or later, you're gonna give up on that crazy idea."

"It's not crazy! You like her, don't you? So date her already!" Hananoki commanded. When Raiden merely cocked an eyebrow, more at the tone of her voice than anything she actually said, she gave her own sigh, adding, "If you'd just bother to _look_ for it, you'd probably notice that she 'likes' you just as much as you 'like' her."

Raiden just shook his head again, leading Hananoki to release a frustrated sigh. Ino snickered at the sibling like interaction between the two of them, while Hinata found herself wishing that she could be more outgoing like Hananoki was.

Naruto looked at Raiden and his female companion for a few moments. Then he said, "So… she's not your girlfriend?"

After he had sufficiently ground Naruto's face into the counter, Raiden got out of his seat, said, "Pick yourself up, Naruto, my friend. We're going to teach you everything there is to know about ninjutsu… well, the basics at the very least," and he exited the ramen stand. Hananoki followed after him, and so did the other three, once Ino and Hinata had pried Naruto's head from the counter.

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The next day at the Academy was particularly boring for Naruto and his new friends. Iruka ended up going over everything the group of would-be-ninjas had spent the rest of the previous afternoon teaching the Westerner. Hand-signs and their specific uses, classifications of ninjutsu/genjutsu, the elements and their strengths and weaknesses… Everything was just a long-winded rehash of the gang's short tutoring lesson.

After the excruciatingly long day of lectures, the group of five happily fled out the Academy doors. As they did so, Naruto spotted Sasuke walking away from the school by himself.

"Where's the emo-kid going?" he asked his companions.

Raiden looked at Sasuke's back and scoffed. "He goes back to his neighborhood to practice by himself and mope," he answered.

"Raiden! You shouldn't say things like that! Don't you know what happened to him?" Ino scolded on reflex.

Raiden frowned, still looking at Sasuke's back. He finally turned to Ino and said, "I know exactly what happened to him. I don't pretend to understand how much that hurts, but I refuse to believe that it's an excuse to pretend the world around you doesn't exist." His gaze drifted back to the retreating Uchiha's back and he added, "Sasuke needs to wake up and accept that the world did, in fact, _not_ end that night."

Naruto blinked at Raiden's sudden seriousness. As a matter of fact, it seemed that he was… angry about it.

"Uh… what are we talking about?" the foreigner asked, cautiously.

Raiden blinked; he'd nearly forgotten Naruto couldn't have known what had happened to the Uchiha and his clan.

He turned to Naruto and explained, "About… six years ago, now, Sasuke's older brother, Itachi Uchiha – one of Konoha's strongest ninja – slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan, except for Sasuke himself. In fact, Itachi killed their mother while Sasuke was watching."

Naruto's eyes widened considerably. Then he said, "Holy shit… So, knowing that… Don't you think you're being just a little… I don't know… harsh?"

"Nope," Raiden easily replied. He suddenly started walking away from the group, saying, "I'll catch you guys later. I've got a training match with Gai planned."

The other four watched him go, and Hananoki sheaved a sigh.

Hinata looked at Hananoki and asked, "W-What's the matter?"

Hananoki shook her head and decided to elaborate on Raiden's behavior, "What bothers Raiden the most is that Sasuke's never even _tried_ to get over what happened. He clings to the memory, unwilling to move on, thinking only of taking revenge on his brother. Raiden views this as… well, weak. Something he didn't consider Sasuke to be back then." Her eyes stared off into the distance, watching the memories replay themselves yet again.

"Wait," Ino started, "What do you mean, 'back then'? How would you two know what goes on in Sasuke's head?"

She looked Ino in the eyes, completely serious, and stated, "The three of used to be friends." She ignored the startled look Ino gave her in return, and continued, "Before the infamous Massacre, the three of us were inseparable. Raiden and Sasuke were both best friends and rivals. They were constantly pushing each other to get better, to reach new heights of ability. I just cheered them on. I don't think I'll ever be as strong as they are. Sasuke would undoubtedly be at the same level as Raiden by now if Itachi hadn't committed such a horrendous act.

"After the Massacre, Sasuke shut himself off from everybody. Raiden and I were distraught after learning what happened, and we did all we could think of to help him. We just wanted our friend back. But no matter how many times we tried to reach out to him, he just ignored us. And then, about a year after the event, Raiden just… snapped…"

_Flashback_

"_Hey, Sasuke!" Raiden exclaimed when he noticed Sasuke walking through the streets. He ran up to the young Uchiha, Hananoki not far behind him._

_Sasuke didn't even bother to look at him. Raiden frowned, but replaced it with his smile from earlier, asking, "Hey man, Hana and I are going tog et some lunch. Why don't you tag along? For old times' sake?"_

_Sasuke just looked Raiden in the eyes; his own eyes cold and uncaring. Then he spoke the first words he'd said to the amethyst-eyed boy in a year: "Leave me alone."_

_Raiden's face went blank. Hananoki's eyes widened, not sure if she'd heard Sasuke right._

_And then Raiden's fist connected with Sasuke's face, meeting no resistance whatsoever. Sasuke fell to the dirt, grabbing his face in pain._

_This sight only seemed to enrage Raiden further. "Get up, Sasuke," he said in a deadly whisper. When the Uchiha didn't move, Raiden yelled, "I said, 'Get up'!"_

_Receiving no response, Raiden stepped over Sasuke, got a hold of Sasuke's collar, lifted the black-eyed boy's head up, and punched him again. And again. And again. All the while he was yelling, "Get up! Get up! Get up!"_

_People around them rushed in, prying Raiden away from the last Uchiha. When they succeeded, Raiden went lax, staring at Sasuke with a mixture of anger and sadness. His amethyst eyes filled with tears and he finally whispered, "Why won't you get up?" _

_Flashback End_

Ino and Hinata both looked down ground, thinking about how awful it would be to see your best friend go through something so painful. And then, to top it off, to attempt to help and be constantly rejected by that friend.

_It certainly wouldn't be easy_, Hinata thought. Ino was experiencing similar thought patterns.

Naruto kept his solemn gaze on Hananoki, waiting for her to finish.

"After that, Raiden just… gave up. Sasuke had apparently lost his fighting spirit; he didn't even try to defend himself when Raiden attacked him. In the process, Sasuke'd lost Raiden's respect, as well as whatever sympathy he'd had left," Hananoki finished.

"But… what could you expect?" Ino asked, more curious than angry at this point. "I wouldn't think it'd be very hard to lose your 'fighting spirit' in the face of such a tragedy." Hinata nodded, thinking the same thing.

"That's just it though, isn't it?" Naruto said suddenly. He looked at Ino and Hinata, and then at Hananoki, who held an almost… expectant look in her ocean-blue eyes.

"Raiden and I are a lot similar than I first thought," the crimson-eyed boy began, "The first time I watched him fight I knew I'd be facing a well-trained opponent, who'd be able to hold his own against me for a lot longer than most.

"But when I actually fought him, I discovered more than just a worthy opponent; I found someone who shared my beliefs. To him, and me, fighting, being a warrior, a ninja, whatever, isn't just about being famous, or fulfilling some duty; it's truly a way of life.

"When Sasuke, someone Raiden had considered to be so like himself -- one who lives the life of a warrior – ceased fighting… I think it hurt Raiden more than would be initially thought. He had thought of Sasuke as both his best friend _and_ his greatest rival; to Raiden, without one, you can't have the other," Naruto stated, finishing his speech.

"W-Why i-is that?" Hinata asked, still having trouble understanding the true scale of the love of fighting Naruto and Raiden possessed.

"Because it's the way of life we've chosen. And to people like us, you can never truly know someone until you fight them. As a person grows and changes in personality, so does their approach to battle. When Sasuke refused to fight, he truly, and finally, refused to open up to Raiden. I'd imagine that it added a great insult to a still painful injury," Naruto explained.

Hananoki smiled sadly at Naruto's insight. "You really are a lot like him," she said. "I couldn't have explained it nearly that well."

As Naruto's cheeks flushed a little, his right hand rose and scratched the back of his head. "Well, it's harder to explain something you don't have very much experience in," he said.

"Heh, true enough, I suppose," Hananoki replied.

Ino looked around at her three companions, angry at herself for encouraging such a depressing subject; she didn't like the somber looks on any of her friends' faces.

"Hey, um…" she tried to come up with something, anything to get the rest of the group to smile, "why don't we go and show Naruto some more about ninjutsu?" She hoped that it would at least take everyone's minds off the current matter.

Hananoki smiled at Ino's suggestion; it would certainly keep them all busy, giving them time to clear their heads, and Raiden time to cool down. "Sounds good to me," she said. She turned to the crimson-eyed boy and cocked an eyebrow.

Naruto smiled back, and said, "As long we don't have to go over the same freaking stuff again, I think it sounds good." He in turn looked to Hinata, who just smiled and nodded.

The gang set off to find somewhere quiet to continue the tutoring, and Naruto began to wonder how Raiden was doing…

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Whenever Tenten witnessed Raiden's fighting prowess, she always began to wonder why he had declined the offer that he had received from the Hokage himself, to graduate from the Academy at the age of seven.

But, as always, she recalled the answer she had received when she asked him that question; he had grinned and said, _"Because that doesn't sound as fun as being with you."_ Then he'd put his hands behind his head and added, _"Besides, Hananoki wouldn't know what to do without me!"_

Tenten smiled at the memory, and then frowned as she thought of something that she had been trying to avoid thinking about: she and Raiden had been spending less and less time together. It was becoming hard enough to find time to spend with the amethyst-eyed wonder while she was the only one that was being sent on missions and training with her squad. What would happen when Raiden finally graduated, and was assigned to his own Genin team? Would they drift apart as so many Genin squads did when they all made Chunin? What if he was seriously injured or worse?

Tenten shook herself from her depressing line of thought, returning her attention to the match between Raiden and Gai. Witnessing these somewhat infrequent sparring bouts between her sensei and her best friend never ceased to amaze her and her teammates, Neji Hyuuga and Rock Lee.

On that thought, she looked over to her two friends and teammates. Neji sat with his usual impassive face locked firmly in position, while Lee was all but bouncing up and down, excited, as always, by the prospect of being in the presence of such powerful ninja.

There came a sudden cry of, "**Lightning Release: Bolt**!" and Tenten's eyes snapped back to the fight just in time to see Gai leap away from the strike of lightning Raiden had thrown.

Tenten couldn't help but smile at the easy grin on Raiden's face; it was the one he wore whenever he was having fun, when he was happy. And when your friends are happy, it's hard not to be so yourself.

She watched as Gai launched himself at the amethyst-eyed boy, and proceeded to unleash a flurry of blindingly fast punches and kicks. Raiden responded with nearly equal ferocity, but she noticed that he was still forced into a more defensive style than he preferred. So, when Gai blocked one of Raiden's kicks, Raiden used the opportunity to launch himself out of melee range, flipping through hand-signs during the course of flight.

Gai, presuming it to be yet another of Raiden's ranged techniques, swiftly closed the gap between the two fighters, intent on interfering with Raiden's jutsu.

However, Raiden had anticipated Gai's line of thought, and had prepared an appropriate jutsu, one that he had created with the knowledge Kakashi had given him that pertained to lightning-element chakra natures.

He spread his hands apart, and cried, "**Lightning Release: Thunderclap**!"

Raiden clapped his hands together in a prayer-like position, and a large dome of electricity immediately erupted from that epicenter.

Not expecting a close-range, let alone original, jutsu, Gai was caught in the field of lightning and was promptly electrocuted.

The dome held for a good six seconds before it finally died out, leaving a thoroughly pained, twitching Gai stunned, and only standing through sheer willpower.

Raiden didn't waste any time pressing his advantage; the amethyst-eyed youth charged the large man with the bowl-cut and executed a swift punch Gai's face. Raiden followed up with his other hand, hitting the older man in the gut; then he swept an uppercut to Gai's chin; and he finished by slamming an elbow into the teacher's chest. Gai proceeded to fly into a nearby tree, damaging even more of Konoha's wooded areas.

Tenten nearly whooped with delight at seeing her friend outsmart her sensei, but she managed to check herself, merely watching with delight as Gai pulled himself to his feet, gingerly rubbing his wounded chest, a large grin plastered to his face despite the pain.

"I think I must give this match to you, Raiden! Your youthful strength outshines my own this fine day!" Gai exclaimed, wincing when he punched his fist into the air.

Raiden grinned sheepishly at the praise, strange as it was, and he hooked his thumbs lazily into his pockets. "Hehe, thanks for the match, Gai. I'm already looking forward to our next spar," he said. He turned around, giving Gai's students a wave as he began the trek back to his usual training ground, a pensive look now on his face; he'd thought of a couple ways to alter his first original jutsu, and maybe even create another.

Tenten watched as Raiden began to leave, and wondered why he wasn't staying like he normally did after a spar with Gai. He'd usually stick around and hang with her team, or help them train.

A thought crossed her mind: Could he still be upset about what happened yesterday? Tenten knew that Raiden had been less than pleased that he'd been left in the dark about whatever was troubling his best friend.

She looked at Gai, who gave her a thumbs up coupled with a megawatt grin, and Tenten knew she it was probably time to talk to Raiden. She got up and ran after him.

Gai watched her go, then turned to Neji and Lee, saying, "I think we shall retire early today, team. I have an errand I need to run, and my bout with Raiden has left me somewhat fatigued anyway. Of course, you are both welcome to stay and train here as much as you see fit!"

And then Gai was off to find Kakashi and speak with him about his younger brother. His hand rose to absently grasp at his chest, and the Jonin winced at the pain of just touching the wounded area.

Perhaps he should head to the hospital to get his broken ribs mended first.

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"Hey, Raiden!"

The amethyst-eyed boy turned to find that Tenten was running up behind him. "Hey, Ten," he said, somewhat absently. His mind was still stuck on the prospect of another original jutsu.

Tenten, however, didn't seem to notice this, as she was still trying to figure out what exactly she was going to say.

"Um… do you mind if we… well, talk?" she asked. It was a start at least.

Raiden blinked, and got serious, realizing what this was about. "Sure," he responded. He looked around, shrugged, and sat down against the nearest tree.

Tenten sat next to him, and tried to gather her thoughts. Raiden just sat with his eyes closed, giving her as much time as she needed.

After some deliberation, Tenten opted that perhaps discretion was _not_ the better part of valor… not with this, at least.

"On my mission a couple days ago… I made my first kill," she said.

Raiden opened his eyes, and nodded, urging her to continue.

"My first… several, actually. We had been sent to deal with a group of bandits plaguing settlements on the edge of Fire Country's borders. I don't know what I had been expecting; we're ninjas after all. We're trained to kill our opponents, but… I don't know, I thought, maybe, we'd just… stop them. Incapacitate them."

Tears began falling from her hazelnut eyes as she continued, "When we got to their camp, we went on the offensive. A small group of them saw us coming and pointed in our direction, and… my training just… took over. Next thing I knew they were all dead, my kunai sticking out of a vital organ on each one. My mind froze at what I had just done, but my body moved on its own, training propelling my weapons into as many bandits as I could see."

She was openly sobbing as she said, "I was… My body just moved on its own, like some sort of weapon! I hated what I was doing, but… I couldn't stop! Is that all ninjas are supposed to be? Are we just supposed to be cold, uncaring tools to be used by lords and nobles?!"

Tenten felt a comforting arm wrap around her shoulders, and she leaned against Raiden, crying hard into his shoulder.

"In answer to your question," Raiden said quietly when Tenten had calmed down a bit, "…Yes."

He looked into Tenten's startled hazelnut eyes and elaborated, "Ninjas aren't _supposed_ to feel; we're not _supposed_ to care about the people we kill. But ya know what?" His hand that wasn't occupied with Tenten's shoulder moved to wipe a few stray tears from her face, "I think I'd only be upset if you came to me and said that you didn't care that you'd made your first… several kills."

Raiden gave his friend the warmest smile he could and said, "The fact that you care just means that you're still human. I, personally, would have to object if that ever changed."

Tenten found a smile on her face in spite of herself… as well a blush. She'd rarely ever seen a smile like that on Raiden's face before, and it looked good. She leaned her head back on the amethyst-eyed boy's shoulder, silently thanking him for his support.

And maybe she just wanted an excuse to have his arm wrapped around her for a little bit longer.

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**Author's Notes****:** Well, it's been a long time coming, but here it is! Finally! *sigh* So, what'd ya'll think of the battle? Love it? Hate it? Are completely indifferent towards? Oh, and I wouldn't mind hearing your thoughts on the rest of the chapter too, I guess.


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes:** Here it is, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you enjoy this latest installment. And since I've gotten quite a few inquiries, I will be revealing pairings at the end of the chapter to satisfy anyone who's all but dying to know.

* * *

_**Chapter 4 – Romance, Mystery, and a Surprisingly Strong Punch **_

He stood his ground, focusing on molding his chakra. He knew he wouldn't have much time-

A flurry of kunai assailed Naruto from the trees around him, but he didn't move to dodge; instead, he let every single one find its mark.

After becoming a pincushion, Naruto's image burst into smoke, his actual body replaced with a kunai-laden log.

The real Naruto stepped out from behind one of the trees surrounding the clearing of Training Ground Seven. His crimson eyes shown with delight at his progression with the ninjutsu; of the three basic, Academy-level techniques, he'd had the most trouble with the Kawarimi.

"Not bad," Raiden said, his easy smile a tad brighter than normal as he walked alongside Tenten, who just grinned at the blonde-haired warrior.

"I think he's got the basics down pretty well," Hananoki added as she approached with Ino and Hinata.

Naruto smiled at his five friends. _Man_, he thought, _I've only been here three weeks, and I've already made so many friends. This place is great!_ He hadn't made very many friends back in the West. Of course, that becomes somewhat difficult when you spend the vast majority of your time being trained by a professional demon-hunter. But, still…

His line of thought was cut short as someone else bounded into the clearing.

"Tenten," Neji said with his usual impassivity, "We have another C-Rank mission." He watched as his teammate immediately sobered up. He silently hoped that whatever the mission was, it didn't upset her as much as the last one had. The quiet Hyuuga considered the girl a friend, regardless of whether or not he'd actually admit it to anyone.

"Alright," Tenten said somberly. She looked to Raiden, who gave her a clone of the warm smile he'd given her a few days ago, and reassuring hand on her shoulder. She took a deep breath, smiled back, and then bounded off with Neji.

Raiden's amethyst eyes watched her go, and when she was out of sight, and hearing range, he said, "Hey, Hana?"

When the girl in question gave him an inquisitive look, he asked, "Do you think she'd like it if I took her out to dinner once she gets back?"

Hananoki took in a delighted gasp, and, barely restraining an excited squeal, responded, "I think she'd love it!"

Her normally warm eyes gained a sudden malicious gleam that made Raiden unconsciously shiver with fright.

"Of course, we'll have to make sure you know where you'll be taking her," she purred. Raiden gained a confused look, along with another shiver.

"She's right," Ino purred in the exact same tone from beside him, "And you can't wear just _anything_ if you're going to be taking a girl out to dinner."

Raiden turned to find that Ino held the same gleam in her crystal-blue eyes that had appeared in Hananoki's ocean-blue ones.

Before he knew what was happening, the two girls had hooked onto his arms and were proceeding to drag him back towards the village, chuckling at some joke that only they understood.

Hinata certainly didn't understand what was going on, but, shrugging it off as usual 'normal' girl behavior, she began to follow before she realized something was amiss. Looking around, she noticed that Naruto was gone.

* * *

When he'd first come to Konoha, he'd noticed that everything smelled much differently than back home. The places, the people, even the air itself had a strange scent. It hadn't taken him very long to get used to it, of course… but there was something that had continued to confuse him. Konoha had lacked any trace of the scent that had been fairly prevalent in the West; a scent he'd just detected a minute ago.

He smelled a demon.

Naruto reached up to grip the hilt of Force Edge; he made a habit of carrying it everywhere but the Academy, just in case something like this happened. He supposed it could be a friendly demon (there were a few that did their best to live 'normal' lives in the mortal world), but he figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

Coming upon a small lake within the forest, Naruto discovered his prey: a pair of scarecrows.

Naruto scowled in distaste; a couple of bug-bags would be far less than what he considered a decent fight. Plus, the things were just gross.

He eyed the large, patchwork bags that each housed a colony of hive-minded insects and came equipped with a sickle-blade as an appendage, disappointment giving way to the sense of duty Dante had instilled in the crimson-eyed youth. Naruto had been raised as a demon-hunter, and he'd be damned if he'd let a couple of demons get away just because they wouldn't put up a decent fight.

The first had been destroyed before either of the scarecrows had even noticed the demon-hunter's approach. A single thrust from Force Edge had been enough to cause the patchwork sack to burst into a haze of bug guts, and the foul stench that accompanied such things.

The second barely had time to bring its blade-arm to bear before Force Edge had cleaved the scarecrow in vertical halves. The two parts burst just as the first demon had.

Naruto shook the green ichors off his blade and placed the sword back in its improvised sheath. Standing in front of the water, Naruto tried to discern exactly what had brought the scarecrows to the middle of a forest of all places. They were hardly more than mindless killers, and yet the demons had seemed like they were searching for something…

Sensing an approaching presence, Naruto turned just in time to watch as Hinata came into view. The shy Hyuuga landed softly in front of him, a puzzled look on her face.

"Hey, Hinata," Naruto said casually.

"Um… Naruto, what w-were you doing out here?" Hinata asked, a notable lack of stutter in her voice.

The crimson-eyed warrior just waved the question away, vaguely explaining, "It's kind of a long story. I'll regale you sometime; for now, we should be on our way back to town… er, village, or… whatever."

Hinata took a moment to watch Naruto begin to trek back towards the village proper, and then shrugged. They'd only known each other for a week; she certainly couldn't expect him to tell her _everything_, now could she?

* * *

Tenten quietly followed her team out of the Hokage's office. Their new mission was to track down and kill a large group of bandits that had set up camp near a rather defenseless village. Unfortunately, she was still uncomfortable with just the knowledge that she had been able to do it before. Would she really be able to deal with more blood on her hands?

Her thoughts were interrupted when her sensei exclaimed, "Ah, it is good to see you again, Kakashi!"

She looked up and smiled at the one-eyed Jonin; she had always liked Raiden's older brother. He eye-smiled back, then turned to Gai with a more serious expression.

Realizing his intent, Gai told his students, "You three should go get packed. We'll meet at the gates in thirty minutes."

Tenten, Neji, and Rock Lee quickly nodded, and headed down the stairs. But, before she could descend very far, Tenten heard Gai ask, a strange tone in voice, "Raiden?"

The young girl stopped, suddenly _very_ curious.

"I think you're right," Kakashi responded. "I sparred him a couple days ago… My shoulder's still sore. I moved to dodge one of his kicks, but he was faster than I'd anticipated; _too_ fast. My shoulder nearly shattered when he hit it."

"He didn't notice, did he?" Gai asked in a knowing tone.

"No, he didn't. If I hadn't suddenly remembered an errand I needed to run, he'd have kept going like nothing happened," the one-eyed Jonin stated.

Now Tenten was confused; not only was Raiden breaking bones when he fought, he wasn't even _realizing_ it? That didn't sound like the friend she knew at all! He may take spars seriously, but he was still careful about not causing any serious injury.

"Any particular reason you can think of?" asked Gai after a moment of silence.

Tenten could imagine Kakashi raising his hands in exasperation as he said, "Nope. I think all we can do at this point is be extra careful when we spar with him."

Her sensei heaved a sigh, then stated, "You're right… it's still very strange. Perhaps it has something to do with his origins?"

_His 'origins'?_ Tenten thought.

"That'd be my guess," Kakashi agreed. Then he sighed, "Honestly… kid shows up in a lightning bolt, exhibits extraordinary ability with lightning jutsu, of all things, and then starts having unexplainable, unnoticed, and decidedly short-lived power-boosts… Why's he gotta be so much trouble?"

Gai laughed, clapped the one-eyed Jonin on the shoulder, and said, "Well, that's the price of having people who are precious to you, my friend!"

"Heh… suppose you're right about that," Kakashi responded.

Tenten heard her sensei begin to trek towards the stairs, and she all but sprinted down them. She didn't want Gai to know she'd been eaves-dropping. But she couldn't help but wonder about what they'd said; something about how Raiden 'showed up in a lightning bolt'. What could they have meant by that?

* * *

Naruto and Hinata, after a full hour of searching, finally discovered the others at an expensive-looking clothing store in the market district of the village.

Raiden looked more exhausted than Naruto had ever seen him; he was leaning heavily against a wall near where Hananoki and Ino were scouring the shirt racks. They already carried several pairs of pants, a pair of shoes, and a couple of different shirts.

"So… how ya doin'?" Naruto asked the amethyst-eyed boy, a knowing smirk on his face. Naruto remembered the first- and only- time he'd been shopping with Lady, the female demon hunter he and Dante had met in the Temen-ni-guru; he still had to repress a shudder at the memory.

"Well," Raiden began in an exasperated tone, "I've been to more restaurants today than I knew existed in Konoha, and I think I've spent more time shopping for clothes today than I've ever spent shopping in my entire life." He eyed the smirking Naruto. "How do you think I'm doing?"

"Hm… fantastic?" Naruto ducked under the sudden punch, and planted himself on the wall, right next to Raiden, chuckling all the while. Raiden heaved a tired sigh.

Hinata giggled at the boys' antics. It hadn't taken the two of very long at all to become best friends. The way they fought each other though, you'd think they were mortal enemies if not for the excited grins that appeared on their faces.

The young Hyuuga's smile diminished somewhat as she thought of that. She, Ino, Hananoki had spent the majority of the past week either teaching Naruto the basics of ninjutsu or just watching the boys spar each other. She wasn't sure about Ino and Hananoki, but she had ended up neglecting some of her own training in favor of spending time with her newfound friends.

_Not that it matters very much_, Hinata thought, glumly. Before she could continue on her self-derisive train of thought, Ino nearly yelled, "Hinata!" and ran over to the shy girl, grabbed her arm, and dragged her over to where Hananoki waited, saying, "It's about time you showed up! You've gotta help us get this guy something nice to wear!"

Raiden and Naruto both sweat-dropped as the two shoppers all but buried Hinata in a mountain of clothing in their attempts to drag an opinion out of the poor girl.

"…This won't be over anytime soon, will it?" Raiden asked solemnly.

"Nope," Naruto assured him.

* * *

Nearly two hours later the group of five finally exited the store. Hananoki and Ino both looked extremely proud of themselves; Hinata looked fairly worn out; Raiden looked absolutely exhausted; and Naruto looked as if he was just barely restraining a bout of laughter.

The girls had made the amethyst-eyed fighter try on a grand total of seventeen different outfits; he ended up purchasing three. The girls had… 'required' him to get a variety. After all, he couldn't wear the same thing twice in a row.

They all walked in silence to the Hatake household in the southwest section of the village. The plain, two-story house was painted white, probably an ode to Kakashi's father, the 'White Fang'.

"Excuse me a minute," Raiden said as he stepped through the door to deposit his purchases in his room.

After a moment of silence, Hananoki said, "So, what are we gonna do after this?"

"I say we go back to training," Naruto suggested. He looked at the girls and added, with a foxy-grin, "After all, I haven't seen what you three can do yet!"

All three ladies blinked in shock. "A-Are you serious?" Ino hesitantly asked, very afraid of the answer.

"Of course!" Naruto cheerily exclaimed. He didn't think they'd be as good as Raiden, but the amethyst-eyed ninja-to-be seemed to be more the exception than the rule. Besides, they were his friends, and if he could somehow help them better themselves, then he'd do everything within his power to do so.

Hananoki, trying her best to keep a smirk from creeping onto her face, stated, "I guess I don't mind showing off a bit." She looked at the other two for their input.

Ino took a deep breath, then said, "Alright, I'm in. I just hope you're not expecting me to start throwing around lightning bolts."

Hinata took the longest to answer, but after a minute or so, she nodded her consent.

"Great! Now we just need Raiden to hurry up and get back down here!" he yelled at one of the top floor windows of the house.

* * *

Raiden thought he heard someone yelling for him as his vision came back into focus, but he ignored it in favor of trying to ease the pounding in his forehead with a little bit of carefully-applied chakra. He found himself lying on his side, staring at the dust bunnies under his bed. _I should get a broom in here,_ he thought groggily as he brought himself to his feet.

After doing a cursory examination and finding nothing wrong besides the throbbing in his head, Raiden walked to the bathroom. He went to the sink, splashed some water in his face, and gazed at himself in the mirror.

He still couldn't understand what was wrong with him; for the past few months he'd been having… 'visions', for lack of a better term. Every now and then, he would suddenly start to see… differently. Everything seemed to just… flow together. All the colors and shapes of the world around him would begin to blend together, not into an ugly mish-mash of random paint-splotches, but into something that just seemed… right.

It was a truly beautiful sight to behold, but it was always too much for him to handle. The 'visions' caused him intense pain, which was extremely distracting when trying to have a conversation with somebody. Luckily enough, he could generally feel when one was coming on, so he always tried to excuse himself from any company before the full brunt of the 'vision' could hit him.

But the visions had _never_ rendered him unconscious before, for any length of time. Could they be getting worse?

He snorted at the thought. Raiden supposed the truly worst part was the unknown-factor. Of course, he'd yet to see a doctor about the condition, but… it didn't really seem like something a doctor would be able to handle.

After a couple more splashes of water Raiden decided he was sufficiently awake and pain-free, so he headed back out to join the gang.

* * *

"Took you long enough! What'd you do, take a nap?" Naruto exclaimed when Raiden finally stepped out of the house.

"I sure did. Why, are we doing something else?" he replied with his easy smile fixed firmly in place.

Naruto scowled a minute, then his grin from earlier returned as he said, "We're gonna work with Ino, Hinata, and Hananoki. I still haven't seen any of them fight outside of the Academy's short spars, er, 'taijutsu matches'."

Raiden gained a pensive look for a moment, then said, "Come to think of it, I haven't seen much of what Ino or Hinata can do. Hana, however…" He smiled at his old friend.

The girl in question just smiled back. Both Raiden and Kakashi had played a huge role in her training. She doubted she'd ever be truly skilled like the Hatake brothers, but with their help in her training (and Kakashi's Jonin-level access to the more interesting scrolls stored in the Konoha library) she had found her areas of expertise.

Hananoki couldn't wait to see the look on Naruto's face.

* * *

Naruto smiled across the clearing at Ino, encouraging her before they began their pseudo-spar.

Upon the gang's arrival at the clearing Ino and Hinata had both voiced their doubts about their fighting abilities, both saying in their own ways that they needed work. Lots of work.

So Naruto had decided to give a little organization to what they were doing. Instead of having all out sparring, they would divide the matches into three parts each, and him and Raiden (who would observe from the sidelines) would assess the girls' performances. Then the two warriors would do what they could to assist the ladies in their problem areas.

Naruto looked to Raiden, who'd somehow acquired a pencil and a pad of paper to take notes on. The crimson-eyed warrior blinked, but said nothing. Raiden announced, "Part One: Taijutsu!"

The match didn't last very long; Ino's grasp of taijutsu was formed completely around the basic Academy style. And she certainly wasn't stellar with it.

On his page titled, _Ino_, under the category, _Taijutsu_, Raiden wrote, _Needs work. Lots and lots of work_. Then he yelled, "Part Two: Range!"

Her aim wasn't half as bad as her taijutsu; not that she was great with projectiles either. But at least she'd blocked some of Naruto's gun shots.

Raiden jotted down a couple of things about her throwing speed and overall technique, then shouted, "Part Three: Jutsu!"

Naruto watched as Ino immediately formed a trapezoid with the first two fingers on her hands and her thumbs, shouting, "**Mind Transfer**!"

Naruto immediately felt presence invade his mind, and before he knew it, his consciousness was pushed back, and Ino's mind had taken its place as controller of his body.

"Haha! It worked!" Ino shouted in Naruto's body.

Raiden cocked an eyebrow, slightly impressed at the technique. Kakashi had told Raiden of the Yamanaka clan's mind-affecting jutsu. But if he weren't mistaken, it wouldn't be very long-

Ino's body rocked back and she blinked in surprise at the fact that Naruto had booted her out of his mind so easily.

Naruto shook his head, trying to shake off the weird feeling of having someone else inside his head. Then he grinned at Ino and said, "That's a pretty cool technique. What else ya got?"

"Um…" she blushed and looked very sheepish, "I don't have any others. Er, besides the Academy ones."

Naruto nodded, a somewhat serious look on his face. Ino would need quite a bit of work. He looked to Raiden, who merely nodded, then finished whatever he was writing down.

Hinata switched places with Ino, and Raiden wasted no time with his announcement, "Part One: Taijutsu!"

Naruto was only able to fight Hinata and her weird style for about forty seconds before he yelled, "Stop!"

Hinata froze in place, dreading what was coming next.

"Hinata, why do use that style?" Naruto asked.

The Hyuuga girl blinked, and said quietly, "It's m-my family's s-style…" She nearly cursed herself for her weak-sounding stutter. She'd finally started getting over it with her new friendships, but with Naruto about to berate her…

"But it's all wrong for you!" the crimson-eyed warrior began.

Hinata blinked again. She certainly hadn't been expecting that.

But before Naruto could continue, Raiden interjected, "I think you're misjudging the problem, Naruto."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion, and then just stepped to the side as Raiden got up to expand on his point.

Raiden gazed at Hinata with a calculating expression, and said, "Show me your stance. And trust me; I've sparred with Neji plenty of times, and I've got a good feel of the Gentle Fist."

Hinata slowly dropped into the basic Gentle Fist stance, awaiting Raiden's criticism as she reminded herself that he and Naruto only wanted to help her, not ridicule her.

Raiden just nodded. Then he suddenly threw a punch at Hinata.

The girl 'eeped' in surprise, but was able to block the strike.

Raiden nodded again, this time saying, "I think there's only one thing that's holding you back: you're too strict with yourself."

Hinata blinked in confusion. _I'm only trying to get everything right… isn't that what I'm supposed to do?_ She thought.

"It's not something I'd expect the Hyuuga clan to really pick up on; they're way too stuck in there traditions and whatnot. Your problem is that you're trying too hard to adhere to the style's forms and movements when they don't really suit your disposition," Raiden explained.

Now Hinata was even more confused. "My… d-disposition?"

"Of course!" Naruto exclaimed. Some sort of realization seemed to have dawned on him.

Raiden smirked at Naruto, and said, "You see where I'm going with this don't you?"

Naruto just grinned and nodded, allowing his friend to continue.

Amethyst eyes turned back to Hinata, and Raiden elaborated, "The style itself doesn't seem to be the problem; it's your interpretation of its movements and stances. You're limiting yourself to the basics on the scrolls you were taught from. Really, you just need to… loosen up. Adapt the style to yourself, not yourself to the style."

Hinata looked down at her stance, and whispered, "Loosen up," while she contemplated what exactly Raiden meant.

Before Raiden could speak again, Naruto placed his hand on the amethyst-eyed fighter's shoulder and shook his head. Raiden looked at Hinata again and realized that she seemed to be in really deep thought. He decided to trust Naruto's judgment, and see if she figured it out herself.

Hinata lifted her head with a determined look in her pale eyes. Her muscles visibly relaxed, and she spread out her stance a little to a more comfortable position, allowing her limbs to stretch out a little bit, instead of attempting to confine them. Then she simply said, "I'm ready."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow, and, grinning, whispered to Raiden, "I think she got it." Raiden just nodded and went back to his previous spot on the sidelines, next to the somewhat perplexed duo of Ino and Hananoki.

When Hinata came at Naruto this time, she let the techniques flow from her mind to her body, instead of trying to force the movements into their 'correct' form. The moves came not in the form of solid, forced palm-strikes, but as flowing, lashing attacks that could have come from a whip. As she adapted the strikes to the way _she_ felt they should be, instead of how her _father_ said they should be, she felt freer than she ever had in her life.

Naruto was still able to deftly block and dodge her strikes, but Hinata didn't care. With Raiden's words firmly fixed in her mind, the view of Naruto's excited grin as she relentlessly attacked him, and the shouts of encouragement from Ino and Hananoki, Hinata felt that she'd finally been liberated from a cage that she'd been locked in for years.

When Hinata realized this, she couldn't stop tears from forming in her eyes. Not only had she finally been able to make friends that actually cared about her, but within a single week, and by presenting to her such a simple concept, they had helped lift a weight of inadequateness off her shoulders that she felt she'd carried with her the entirety of her life. And she knew that she never repay them enough for it.

Naruto noticed the tears in Hinata's eyes, and he suddenly grabbed her wrists to stop her next strike, and he said, concern lacing his voice, "Are you okay, Hinata?"

The others were beside her almost immediately after he'd said that, and they'd all asked similar questions. The concern in their voices and expressions touched the Hyuuga girl so deeply that she began to truly cry.

But for the first time in her life, she cried tears of joy.

* * *

After Hinata had calmed down and explained why she had been crying, they decided that she'd done enough for one day of training, and Hananoki stepped up to the plate.

Raiden supposed he could offer some sort of friendly warning to Naruto, but his malicious side took over for a moment, and he just shouted, "Part One: Taijutsu!"

Instead of rushing Naruto like Ino and Hinata had, Hananoki opted for a somewhat less direct approach; she aimed her first strike at the ground beneath her.

The force of her punch sent a shockwave in Naruto's direction that tore the earth asunder.

Shocked at the amount of strength exhibited by the slender girl, Naruto was barely able to leap to the side in time.

Hananoki didn't want to give Naruto time to contemplate her technique. She charged in as fast she could, and began throwing a series of powerful blows at Naruto.

All the crimson-eyed warrior could do was dodge, as he decided that getting hit by one of her strikes would be a very bad idea.

He took the time his dodging provided to analyze her style; and he realized that she was a kick-boxer. That's the only way he could describe her fighting technique: she kept her fists up near her face whenever she wasn't punching, like a regular boxer, but she wasn't opposed to throwing a few kicks his way.

Naruto restrained the urge to chuckle; he'd always liked watching the UFC and Pride! (apparently it's spelled wrong if you don't use the exclamation point) fights back West… Now it was like he was a part of one! The only real difference was the danger level.

Watching each strike as it came towards him, Naruto noticed something else: she was using chakra to enhance the power of each blow. She seemed to store the chakra in her fist or foot, which, if released at the correct time… well, it'd probably hurt.

However, no matter how interesting Hananoki's abilities were, Naruto inevitably got bored with his constant dodging. So, he opted for a different tactic.

Naruto maneuvered himself so that his back too a tree, and prepared himself. Hananoki threw hard roundhouse kick, which he promptly jumped over. He flipped in midair, which gave him the chance to watch as Hananoki's foot snapped the poor tree's trunk in twain.

Naruto landed just as the tree crashed, and as Hananoki rushed him again, a sudden realization struck him: the reason she'd seemed so horrible in the Academy's sparring sessions was because she felt the need to hold back so much. _And no wonder_…

The punch came in just as he'd expected it to; which was why he was able to meet it with his own.

Naruto's fist collided with Hananoki's, and a powerful shockwave issued out from the point of impact. Hananoki, not expecting the sudden resistance, was thrown back from the epicenter of the shockwave, while Naruto failed to move an inch.

When Hananoki planted her feet back down on the ground, she gave Naruto a suspicious gaze. The crimson-eyed warrior hadn't used a bit of chakra, and yet he'd easily matched her own chakra-enhanced strength! _Just how strong can he be?!_

Even Raiden had cocked an eyebrow at the immense physical strength Naruto possessed. Perhaps it had something to do with that strange bloodline of his…

While Hananoki and Raiden pondered how Naruto had attained such a level of fitness, Hinata and Ino stared slack-jawed at the power the ocean-eyed girl had displayed. It seemed that they both had a long way to go.

Meanwhile, Naruto was just grinning broadly at his opponent, silently hoping she wouldn't try to ask him about how he'd matched her strength. He'd barely had any experience with outright lying, and he didn't want to try his luck against hard questions from his friends. Naruto didn't want to bring up the fact that he was half-demon with them… not yet, at least.

Luckily enough for Naruto, Raiden decided to continue with the entertainment by announcing, "Part Two: Range!"

Compared to the excellent show of ability Hananoki had exhibited in the taijutsu match, her throwing skill was absolutely abysmal. He hadn't thought it possible, but Naruto was sure that Hananoki was at _least_ as bad as he was.

"Part Three," Raiden called after the first excruciating minute of watching Hana… 'throw', "Ninjutsu!"

Eager to escape the humiliation that was her throwing 'skill', she flipped through five hand-signs nearly as fast as Raiden could.

"**Earth Release: Stalagmite Skewer**!" she yelled as she slammed her palms on the ground.

Naruto was on the move as soon as he felt Hananoki's chakra fill the earth beneath him. He soon found himself dodging a flurry of rock-spears that erupted from the ground, intent on impaling him. Or at least, he assumed that was the jutsu's usual purpose.

After a good thirty seconds of narrowly avoiding Hananoki's jutsu, the ocean-eyed girl lifted her hands and flipped through four more hand-signs. She shouted, "**Earth Release: Hand of Gaia**!" and this time buried her right arm deep into the earth beneath her.

Faster than Naruto had anticipated, an enormous hand of rock and dirt shot from the ground just in front of him, securing the crimson-warrior in its vice.

Instead of being alarmed, Naruto was curious. "Gaia? As in, 'Mother Earth'?" he asked. He was familiar with the name, of course, but he'd thought it was predominately part of Western 'myth'. Most Westerners didn't realize she was real, but still….

Hananoki's face lit up from her uncomfortable position a few yards away from Naruto. "You know of her? Oh, right, you're from the West…" Her cheeks flushed a little and she added, "They have a few books on Western culture and myths in the library here in the village. I found myself fascinated mostly with the so-called 'Greek' mythology. When Raiden and Kakashi encouraged me to try and create my own jutsu, this is what I came up with. The name seemed obvious enough to me, even if most won't really get it."

Naruto gave her a fox-like grin that caused her blush to deepen slightly. "That's really cool, Hana!" He looked at the hand imprisoning him and asked, "I take it you could crush me if you wanted to. But it'd only be good for single combat, 'cause you look like you're kinda rooted to that spot for the moment." At Hananoki's nod, Naruto added, "It's a pretty good jutsu. But, no offence, it's still not good enough."

Hananoki was about to ask what Naruto meant, but she didn't get the chance before Naruto flexed, and, with hardly any real strain, busted out of the stone hand. The rock crumbled to dust as Hananoki withdrew her hand from the ground with a start. She found herself once more staring at Naruto with a perplexed expression; not only had he matched her chakra-enhanced strength, but he'd _easily_ broken free of an _earth_ element technique. Breaking stones was hard enough without chakra reinforcing it, and to do just that with pure physical strength was just insane! _What __**is**__ he?_ The ocean-eyed girl wondered, fascinated by the foreign warrior.

From the sidelines, Raiden breathed a low whistle. He was fairly certain even Maito Gai wasn't as strong as Naruto had shown himself to be. "I think that's enough," he yelled to the competitors as he rose to his feet.

Hananoki heaved a sigh, plopping down to the ground. "Good. I don't think I could've thrown much more at him," she admitted now that the match was over.

Raiden smirked at his friend, knowing that, although she'd been trying hard to fix it, she didn't have a very large reserve of chakra to work with.

As Ino and Hinata approached, Ino asked the question they both wanted to know, "Hey, Hana? How'd you learn to do all that?"

The girl in question smiled at the inquisitive pair, and explained, "Well, when I first started training with Raiden and Kakashi, I… well, I wasn't any good. At anything. But, Kakashi, being who he is, was able to find ways to help speed up the process of my training. He checked my chakra nature at the same time he checked Raiden's; it turned out that I have a dual-nature: earth and water. Water jutsu are pretty easy for me, but, unfortunately for me, most earth jutsu require a large amount of physical strength to perform correctly.

"So, we started with regular weight training, but Kakashi wasn't sure if it would be enough. He scoured the library for old training regimens and taijutsu scrolls, and one finally caught his eye: a series of scrolls written by none other than Tsunade herself."

Ino and Hinata's eyes widened at this little revelation; every aspiring kunoichi knew about Tsunade. She was widely regarded to be the strongest kunoichi in the world, as she was one of the legendary Sannin along with her male teammates: Jaraiya and Orochimaru.

"The scrolls," Hananoki continued, "contained details on how to use chakra to enhance strength to inhuman levels. The training regimen was…" she shuddered as she remembered what Kakashi and Raiden had put her through, "…difficult. But I finally managed to get the hang of it. The style I use is from one of the scrolls as well; it was described as one of the best ways to get the most out of the increased strength while still having a semblance of… well, 'style' to it." She grinned somewhat sheepishly at the other girls as she finished with, "And it certainly helped with my earth element training!"

Naruto and Raiden stood patiently side-by-side as Ino and Hinata asked question after question, obviously impressed with the fact that Hananoki had been able to master a technique created by one of the Sannin at such a young age. And Hananoki was more than willing to answer their questions.

* * *

A couple days later, Tenten and her teammates were finally on the road home. She walked at the back of their formation, ready to take on any assailants with ranged combat, since the other members of her team were all close-combat specialists (not that she wasn't; she was just far better at long-distance fighting than her comrades).

The team was moving slower than usual since they had finished their mission ahead of schedule. Gai hadn't expected the bandit's camp to be so lightly defended, and thought they'd need more time to plan their assault.

Although it gave everyone more time to rest, Tenten wasn't very happy with the slower pace; it gave her too much time to think. And all she could think about was her part in the mission. She'd been assigned to take out the bandits' large patrol group that had constantly scoured the area for suitable prey…

_Flashback_

_She moved in a slow circle, gazing intently at the patrol of bandits she'd allowed to surround her. The twenty, raggedly-dressed men all carried a worn, poorly made katana like they knew exactly how to use them. It was painfully obvious to Tenten that they didn't, but they didn't need to know that. All that was required of her was to dispose of them to keep them from reinforcing the main camp._

_The bandits all smirked maliciously as one said in a voice nearly as ragged as his clothes, "Lookie 'ere, boys! We got ourselves a pretty little doll ta play wit'!"_

_The comment didn't show any signs of affecting her, besides making her draw the one scroll hooked to the belt she'd strapped on before she'd set out on the mission. Raiden's warm smile shown clearly in her mind, deepening her resolve as she reminded herself: I have to kill them. They're the enemy, and it's my job to take their lives. But I don't have to like it. I just have to get it done._

_She unfurled her scroll a bit, revealing a complex-looking seal painted onto the parchment. As she did so, she used the nail on her index finger to inflict a small cut on her thumb. The blood that swelled from the wound was swiftly smeared onto the exposed seal. The scroll exploded into a cloud of smoke, obscuring the young girl for a moment._

_When the smoke cleared, each bandit took a step back. They now gazed at a rather menacing figure clad in an assortment of weapons and armor. _

_Tenten now wore, over her regular clothes, a suit of armor her father had forged to resemble the kind the samurais from the Land of Iron wore. The only difference was the lack of a helmet, the dark grey color, and the lighter material it had been made from. Hooked onto various points on her armor, were her favored weapons: a naginata with a slightly shortened handle (about five feet instead of the usual six to seven) was hooked onto her back, angled to her right shoulder; a composite bow with accompanying arrows also hung on her back; a pair of short-handled, single-edged battle-axes were strapped to her hips; a wakizashi was hooked to her right leg; a ninjato had been strapped to her left leg; and the parts of her belt that weren't holding up the axes were covered in pouches containing a gracious amount of kunai and shuriken._

_What scared the bandits most out of all of that was the fact that she looked completely comfortable, even content, dressed in all of that. They had never thought themselves great fighters, but even they didn't need someone better to tell them that it was horrible sign when your opponent wasn't even slightly worried that all of that gear might weigh them down a little bit._

_They each chanced a glance at each other, and as a result, they each made the last mistake of their lives._

_Three kunai flew from Tenten's gauntleted hands, and three of the bandits fell. Seventeen to go._

_As she launched forward, her battle-axes, Katsu (Rip) and Danpen (Shred), found her hands and joined her charge, eager to join the battle. They whirled around Tenten as a pair of dancers would, and left their mark on the battlefield. One bandit's face was split open; one's head was severed from his body; another lost both arms to the axes; and their final victim had been cleaved into six separate pieces. Thirteen still left._

_Her wakizashi, Kiritateru (Slash), and her ninjato, Shimiru (Pierce), were the next to join the fray. They were far more precise than their companions were. Two bandits' gained new slits to their throats, and one poor bastard was left to bleed out with slashed wrists and an opened Achilles' tendon. Ten more._

_The bow, Maiagaru (Soar), eager to help its friends, leapt to Tenten's grasp. Its arrows flew straight and true, just as they always did for the young girl. The seven bandits didn't even have time to register the assault as Maiagaru's arrows struck each in the head. And then there were three._

_Tenten finally called on her most-favored weapon, Eki (War), the naginata. The eager polearm exchanged blows with the feeble blades poorly wielded by the bandits a few times, as the three had actually found time to recover from the initial shock of Tenten's relentless onslaught. But each bandit fell to Eki's superior reach and flexibility in short order: the first fell due to the gash across his belly; the second dropped after a vicious slash from groin to chin; the third died from a simple thrust to the heart._

_As Tenten shook the blood from Eki, she looked around at her… 'handiwork'. She'd killed all twenty men quickly, efficiently, and without mercy. She began to feel sick to her stomach as she gazed at the death and gore that she had inflicted…_

_Flashback End_

"_The fact that you care just means you're still human. I, personally, would have to object if that ever changed,"_ Raiden told Tenten again in her mind.

The young woman took a deep breath, stilling the nauseous feeling that had been welling up in her gut at the very memory. The image of the amethyst-eyed boy's smile still shown clearly in her mind, and she was immensely calmed by the mere thought of returning to the friend she cared for far too much to be just 'friends'. She suddenly nodded to herself, apparently coming to some sort of difficult decision.

As she traversed the path back to the village with the rest of her team, Tenten steeled herself for what would probably prove to be the most challenging event in her entire life.

As soon as she got back to Konoha, she was going to ask Raiden on a date.

* * *

"You must concentrate," the vermillion sword said to its master. "You are adept at manipulating Rudra's winds, but the raging flames I wield require direction as well."

"Agni is correct," the aquamarine sword commented to the same master. "You cannot just focus on one of us at a time. To wield our full power, you must divide your attention as you would attempt to 'divide' your opponents."

Naruto frowned as he soaked in the demonic blades' advice. Agni and Rudra were a pair of scimitars with serrated edges, the only differences being their separate color schemes and elemental powers. Agni and Rudra were swords of fire and wind, respectively. When one used one blade at a time (the kind of style Naruto was most comfortable with), it was possible to command an impressive amount of power. But Agni and Rudra were _meant_ to fight together. If one used both demonic swords at the same time, the power that could be wielded was truly immense.

Unfortunately, Naruto just wasn't comfortable with dual-wielding. Hell, one of the reasons he admired Raiden was the amethyst-eyed fighter's ability to fight with both of his butterfly swords so well.

Naruto gazed at the pile of weapons that lay next to his coat on the edge of the clearing. For a moment, he debated abandoning his training with Agni and Rudra so that he could pick up one of the other Devil Arms he and Dante (mostly Dante) had acquired in the Temin-ni-guru. Cerberus, the ice-element tri-nunchaku, was always interesting; the light-element set of gauntlets and greaves, Beowulf, suited him pretty well; and as a huge fan of rock-and-roll, playing Nevan, the lightning-element guitar/scythe, was fun.

He shook his head, dispelling the argument in his head; he'd already gotten comfortable with all of those weapons. Agni and Rudra were the only ones he had trouble with.

"Take a deep breath, Master Naruto," Agni told the crimson-eyed warrior.

"You must clear your mind of doubts before you begin again," Rudra added.

Naruto did as he was instructed, and Agni intoned, "Now… let us go back to the basics…"

Resisting the sudden urge to sigh, Naruto prepared himself for a _long_ day.

* * *

A day later, Raiden finally saw Tenten, walking down the streets, apparently deep in thought. Kakashi had told him that Gai's team had returned earlier that morning, but since he'd had the Academy, he had been unable to welcome her back.

Hananoki saw her too, and she quickly took Hinata and Ino by the arms, saying, "Come on girls, let's go… shop, er, something." And suddenly, Raiden was suddenly all alone (Naruto had excused himself for some reason as soon as class had let out.).

The amethyst-eyed boy took a deep breath, and walked up to the hazelnut-eyed girl.

Suddenly, the very object of Tenten's deep thoughts entered her field of vision and said, concernedly, "Hey, Tenten. How are you?"

She looked up at Raiden, and found she didn't have to try and force a smile as she said, "I'm alright. What you told me last time really helped. Thank you."

Raiden couldn't stop a little blush from creeping onto his face from the sincerity of Tenten's tone. "You're welcome, I guess. Really, it was just something Kakashi taught me," he responded.

They stood together in silence for a moment, both of them attempting to discover a way to express their feelings to the other.

The first to find their voice was Tenten. "Well, it helped nonetheless, and I'm still grateful," she told Raiden, a note of nervousness edging its way into her voice.

But before Raiden could address it, the nervousness faded as Tenten forced her normal, tomboyish nature to the forefront, and asserted, "Which is why you're going to let me take you out to dinner tonight." She just hoped Raiden would catch on to what she was implying… and that he wouldn't reject her.

The amethyst-eyed boy in question did, in fact, catch her implication. And once he'd taken a few moments to reboot his brain to recover from the shock, his warm smile made an appearance, and he responded, "I suppose that since I obviously lack much of a choice in the matter, I'll just have to accept your invitation."

Now it was Tenten's turn to blush, but she didn't let her tomboy attitude slip; she could do that once she was safely within the confines of her room.

"Good," she said, a grin brightening her face, "Meet me at my house at seven." As she turned to walk away, Tenten added, "You'd better not be late!" Then she headed home.

It took the majority of her willpower to keep a skip from her step.

* * *

Promptly at seven o' clock that evening, Raiden knocked on the door of Tenten's house-slash-blacksmith shop.

For the date, he had clothed himself in one of the outfits Hananoki and Ino had 'suggested' he get. He had picked clothing with a foreign style similar to Tenten's (it made great, comfortable, formal wear): his shirt was a blue, long-sleeved tunic with golden straps down the front, black pants, and brown dress shoes. He just hoped he wouldn't appear overdressed or, worse yet, _under_dressed.

Luckily enough, his hopes were fulfilled when the door opened, and Tenten stepped out in a shirt similar to her usual pink one; the differences were in its white color and the green images of flowering vines stitched into the fabric. Below that, she wore loose-fitting pants with a similar design and color-scheme as the shirt, and tan, leather sandals.

Raiden blushed slightly at the sight. He mentally shook himself and said, with the warmest smile he could summon, "Wow, Tenten. You look great."

Now it was Tenten's turn to blush. But, she smirked through it, put a hand on her hip and responded, "You don't look half bad yourself." She stepped down from the entryway, boldly took Raiden's hand, and began leading him towards the main market district.

Once Tenten's hand had taken a hold of his own, Raiden decided that this night was going to be great.

* * *

The crimson-eyed warrior stood on the water of the lake where he'd encountered the scarecrows the day before. The fact that the demons had been scouring the area made him very curious.

Just for kicks, he stretched out his senses. He didn't find anything at first, but after a few moments, he finally began to feel… something. It felt like it was… maybe… beneath him?

He looked down, focusing harder on the lake itself, and, more specifically, its floor.

There was definitely something at the bottom of the lake. He didn't know what it was, but Naruto was determined to find out. So, taking a deep breath, Naruto dived in.

He swam down, down… down a little more… and he just kept swimming down. The damned lake was endless! But he kept going, determined to solve the mystery. Eventually though, he could no longer hold his breath, and he began to suffocate. He swam furiously for the surface, wondering if he'd even make it in time; he'd been going forever.

To his surprise, it took him only about ten seconds to get his head above water.

After pondering for a moment, he stretched his senses again. There was definitely a bottom to the lake, and there was definitely something _at_ the bottom, so instead, he scoured the water of the lake itself. It took a little bit of effort, but there was definitely a force at work on the waters themselves. Some kind of power was keeping him from finding whatever was on the bottom… As it was likely meant to do.

But who… or what, Naruto supposed… would want to hide something at the bottom of a lake, and protect it so thoroughly? What could be down there worth so much trouble?

Naruto shook his head, and headed back to land. This mystery was obviously beyond him.

At least for the moment.

* * *

Tenten was thoroughly enjoying her evening. Her and Raiden had eaten dinner, went to the theater to see an excellent play Raiden had heard about, strolled around the park, and now they sat together at the top on top of the four faces of the Hokage monument, looking out over the village of Konoha as it bathed in the light of the moon and its stars.

And, better yet, she sat leaning on Raiden's shoulder with his arm wrapped around her.

_Yep… tonight couldn't get any better,_ Tenten thought.

"Hey, Tenten," Raiden said, bringing her from her thoughts. She looked up into his amethyst eyes and he asked with a grin, "Why'd we wait so long to do this?"

Tenten smiled back up at him, answering, "I have no idea." For a moment, she considered laying her head back down, but decided that staying locked in his gem-like eyes was a much better plan.

As Raiden found himself unable to turn away from Tenten's beautiful gaze, he considered the reality of the lives they led. He would be graduating from the Academy by the end of the year, and then he'd be going on missions with whoever was on his team. And with Tenten already a full-fledged ninja, it was difficult enough finding ample time to spend with her.

The dangers those missions put them in were very real as well. Any mission a ninja goes on could easily be the _last_ mission they're sent on. He and Tenten might not get another chance for a night like this for quite a while.

Tenten's eyes widened a great deal as Raiden's surprisingly soft lips pressed against her own. It didn't take her long, however, to joyfully accept the turn of events, and her eyes closed as she savored the feeling of his kiss.

She felt like the kiss had lasted an eternity, and yet it was over far too soon. Their lips parted, and she reveled in the happiness it left her with.

The two looked at each other with bright smiles and equally bright blushes.

_Okay,_ Tenten thought to herself, _**Now**__ tonight can't get any better._

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Yep, that's the fourth chapter of Demons Never Cry. I sincerely hope you all found it entertaining, and would love any reviews telling me how I did with this one. And now, for the moment we've all been waiting for! The pairings are as follows:

Naruto + Hananoki

Raiden + Tenten (Bet no one saw that one coming)

Hinata + A Yet to be Introduced OC (You'll all be meeting him next chapter)

Ino + An OC That I Doubt Many of You Recall (Refer back to Chapter 2 to get a glimpse at him)

Dante and Kakashi will both end up with a significant other as well. But their pairings shall remain secret, since they don't get as much spotlight as the younger ones.


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes:** I present to you all, the newest chapter of Demons Never Cry! Enjoy!... Or not! Whichever floats your boat, I guess…

* * *

_**Chapter 5- An Old Friend, a Birthday, and New Teams**_

Two months after Raiden and Naruto had shown her the error in the way she fought, Hinata stood in the middle of the Hyuuga clan's private training grounds. She was waiting for her father, Hiashi Hyuuga, the leader of the entire clan, to begin her annual test. While Hiashi focused on training Hanabi, Hinata's nine-year-old sister, he couldn't _completely_ ignore his less-promising, eldest daughter since she was still technically the clan heir. Of course, that could very well change…

Hinata mentally shook herself from her depressing train of thought, and with notably more ease than she'd ever had. Having friends who encouraged, supported, and even helped her train was having an amazingly positive effect on the young girl! After all, it was because of those friends that for perhaps the very first time in her life, she gazed at her intimidating father with an expression of stern determination, rather than a look of dejected resignation.

That's not to say she wasn't any less terrified of facing her father in any capacity. But, she remembered Nartuo's words the week before, when she had informed him and the others of her (and her fears of) impending test: _You shouldn't worry about it so much, Hinata; you'll do great! And remember, you're just sparring. Losing is just a reaffirmation of what you already know: 'There's always more to learn'!_

She pictured how Naruto had grinned when he'd said that; how Raiden had just nodded with that same, easy smile of his; how Ino had given her a reassuring hug; and how Tenten and Hananoki had both clapped her on the shoulder (Hananoki's being a little more forceful), and Hinata internally relaxed.

And then Hiashi flew forward.

* * *

The guards curiously eyed the tall, young man that was approaching the gates of Konoha. The young man (for he surely couldn't have been much older than twenty-one) was wearing an open, bone-white, leather duster (complete with mantle), a red shirt (which was somewhat faded, and beginning to lead more towards pink), blue jeans, gray sneakers, and a bowler hat as white as his coat. He walked along with a silver cane that had a small black skull capping the top and providing a handhold. When he got closer, they noticed his strange eyes that seemed to be colored with the golden sands surrounding Suna, The Village Hidden in Sand.

The young man finally reached the gates, and one of the guards stepped forward and recited, "Please state your business in Konoha before entering."

Stopping in front of the guards, the young man offered a grin as he swept his hat off his head (revealing neatly-trimmed, dust-colored hair that was parted at the right) and, flourishing into a bow, said in a very sophisticated voice, "It would be my pleasure, Mister Obviously-High-Level-Authority-Figure."

Before the blinking guard could even register that he just might have been insulted, the young man's hat was back in place and the desert-eyed man said, "It's always encouraging to be witness to such expert security in the village one has traveled so long to find! A great joy, indeed!"

The poor guard and his companion could do nothing but stand there and blink as the young man continued, not even giving the ninjas time to register any vocal undertones, "The reason I have come all this way to your fine village, my good sir, is to locate an associate of mine. You see, my friend left town quite suddenly, 'going on a job' he said, but I have come across some information that I just couldn't let him be without! And, more importantly," he heaved a dramatic sigh, "business just hasn't been the same without him!"

Suddenly the young man was grinning at the guards once more, and he finished, "So, if you'll excuse me, my undeniably-skilled friends, I must be off post-haste!"

Blinking in confusion, the guards couldn't even think of stopping the eccentric young man from entering Konoha.

* * *

Hinata's body flew into motion at the last possible moment; her left arm snapped up to deflect Hiashi's right-handed palm strike, pushing that arm out wide, at the same time her own right hand whipped out to land a solid strike on her thoroughly surprised father's stomach. Obviously stunned by the unexpectedly swift and powerful palm-strike, Hinata used the opportunity to land another solid hit on Hiashi's chest, which stumbled the old man back.

But Hinata was far from finished. Something inside her had swelled when she had hit her father, a feeling so satisfying that she normally would've been stunned at herself. As it was, she knew only that she wasn't done feeding that feeling yet.

She took a couple steps forward, then leapt into a flip towards Hiashi, still a few feet from her. Hiashi, expecting her to launch an attack from that airborne position, threw his hand up just in time…

… To block that very threatening (yet still refreshing) breeze.

Hinata landed right in front of her once-again-startled father, and snapped a double-palm into the old man's gut, which cracked into him just as a whip would.

Memories came to her; all of them of Hiashi berating her, telling her that she could never be a true Hyuuga, that she was a failure, that she was a lost cause, that she was _weak_.

Rushing Hiashi as he staggered back again, more intent on the battle than anything else, she didn't even register the sudden, fierce scowl that crossed her face.

Her palm-strike smacked into a strong arm, stopping that strike cold… but not the kick she whipped into that now unprotected flank.

She was not weak! Her friends had helped her uncover her hidden strength; strength she'd hidden from everyone, even herself, in the face of this man's constant berating, his constant assertion that she'd never amount to anything, that she was, and would always be, _weak_.

"I AM NOT WEAK!!!" she screamed. Then she rammed her fist into Hiashi's thoroughly stunned face with all of her strength.

That fist, loaded with chakra, sent Hiashi flying across the rest of the training grounds and crashing heavily into the wooden wall at its end.

And suddenly Hinata wasn't so into the fight. She opted instead to stare, stunned, at her shaking fist. She recognized that feeling inside her that had so controlled her movements after those initial moments of the match…

… It was anger. It was pure, unbridled _rage_. Rage at her father, at the man who had so thoroughly stripped her of self-confidence. Rage at that man who would beat her almost without restraint, and then have the nerve to berate her for being so weak, when he never took the time to actually train her!

She felt that anger begin to swell again, but she quickly crushed that feeling with the realization of what she'd just done. She looked again to her father's now bloody face, staring at her with a look she couldn't begin to discern in her current, befuddled state. So she went with what seemed like the best thing she could do in that situation:

She turned and ran as fast as she could out of the complex, tears already forming in her eyes.

* * *

_Yep, I'm lost_, thought the desert-eyed young man as he meandered through a district that was much less crowded than the ones before it. As a matter of fact, he didn't see a single person walking these particular streets. He supposed he could make an educated guess as to why that was though; after all, every building seemed to be a large mansion or complex of some sort, and inside them he could feel some fairly powerful presences. That likely meant this was Konoha's famous… _infamous?_ he wondered.... Clan District.

The young man snorted, less than impressed.

Although, he still couldn't deny the fact that beyond that, he had absolutely no idea where he was. And his associate could be anywhere!

After a moment's deliberation, he shrugged the problem away. The young man supposed he could stretch his senses, and pick out his target that way, but the Village Hidden in Leaves certainly wasn't a pain on the eyes, and he never minded taking a scenic route to his destination.

The prospect of more aimless wandering brought a smile to the lost young man's face… Which was promptly demolished when he heard a girl crying not very far away.

He looked around for a moment before realizing that the sound was coming from an alley just ahead of him…

* * *

Hinata sat against the outside wall of an empty (hopefully) building not very far from the Hyuuga complex, crying into the arms she had wrapped around her knees. She hadn't run very far before she just felt the need to just collapse and pretend the rest of the world didn't exist. But, attempting to retain whatever dignity she had, Hinata had at least guided herself to a nearby alley, where she'd be in relative privacy.

Her sobs were finally beginning to subside, and Hinata's thoughts began to become coherent once again. As they did, she considered what sort of consequences her actions would bring about. She had _hit_ her father!

Then again, knowing that cold man, Hiashi might actually take that as a sign of improvement. Even more likely, she realized, he would write it off as an inconvenience and never speak of it again.

She sniffled and said out loud, "Why should he start caring now?"

"Why didn't he care in the first place?" a voice directly across from her asked in response.

Startled, Hinata's head snapped up to gaze into strikingly beautiful golden eyes. For a moment, that gaze held all thoughts from her mind, but then her brain shook itself from its stupor. "W-Who a-a-are you?" she asked the stranger that was now sitting right across from her, in a very similar position (albeit more relaxed).

The young man smiled gently as he tipped his foreign hat at her and answered, "My friends call me Malak. As do my enemies. And so do those indifferent to me." He shrugged, then added, "Understandably, of course; my full name is a little difficult to pronounce."

His golden eyes glittered as his smile grew warm, and he said, "I apologize for intruding, but I find it hard to ignore the crying of a young girl." He looked into her pearl like eyes for a moment, and then his smile widened as he added, "Especially one as beautiful as you."

Hinata's tear streaked face quickly heated to proportions she had thought impossible. He had called her beautiful! This young (and undeniably handsome) man, this Malak, whom she had never met in her entire life, had actually called her _beautiful_! Hinata thought she would faint…

… And then she suddenly noticed that her tears had stopped falling. She blinked a few times, then, when her eyes didn't threaten to overflow, she looked to Malak and his warm smile.

That smile widened, and he asked, "Are you feeling better, miss?"

Hinata blinked a couple more times, wiped her face with her sleeve, and said, "Y-Yes… I… uh… t-thank you…" she looked down and straightened her legs. She couldn't think of anything else to say. This stranger had caught her by surprise, and with a smile and few words had calmed her immensely. What could she say to that?

Then she realized something that brought her gaze back to Malak and his striking eyes, "Um, my name's Hinata, b-by the w-way…"

Malak's smile grew into a grin. "Hinata," he seemed to mull it over it for a moment, then stated, "I like it. A beautiful name for a beautiful young woman! Always nice to have a name that lives up to the person…" He nodded to himself for a moment, and then snapped his fingers, as if just remembering something.

"I know this is rather sudden, but I don't suppose you know of a man named Dante, do you?" Malak asked.

After blinking away her initial shock, she responded, "Naruto's father? Well, I-I'm not very familiar w-with Dante himself…"

"Ah, but you know Naruto! Just as well, then!" the golden-eyed man exclaimed. He jumped up and seemed about ready to rush off, but he stopped himself short and, considering Hinata again, said, "I don't suppose you know where he is, do you?"

Hinata found herself giggling, and she couldn't deny that she found this man charming.

She looked to the sky, considering the position of the sun, and determined that it was still fairly early in the afternoon. Knowing her new friends, Naruto and the others were still training.

Hinata stood and, smiling back at Malak, said, "I think I c-can lead you to him."

Grinning wide, Malak clapped his hands together and exclaimed, "Excellent!" The eccentric, young man then reached his right hand down the left sleeve of his leather duster, and proceeded to extract a black, grinning, metal skull about the size of newborn baby's fist. Then, holding tight to the skull, Malak flicked his wrist, causing a silver rod to snap out to arm-length. The golden-eyed man set the elegant walking-stick on the ground, and then, taking his bowler hat from his head, swept out into a bow as he said, "Shall we, milady?" He held the pose, signaling Hinata to take the lead.

She had to take a moment to blink away her confusion (how had that skull not caused a single bulge in his sleeve?), but once she'd decided it was some kind of technique she'd never heard of, she smiled again and began to lead Malak to the training grounds.

* * *

Hiashi just didn't know what to make of it.

He was sitting at his desk with a pile of papers in front of him, and a tissue held against his bleeding nose. He really should have been working on the paperwork in front of him, but he just couldn't focus on anything but his earlier… sparring match.

Never had he considered that Hinata, his supposedly hopeless clan heiress, could show any sort of promise at all.

But that was just what was bugging him, wasn't it? Could he just have been so unprepared for the resistance that she had only overwhelmed him because of his surprise?

Or was she actually beginning to improve?

Perhaps he should take a bit more interest in his eldest daughter's activities…

* * *

Ino always enjoyed watching the boys battle it out. It was a nice little reminder of how far she still had to go.

While that might have discouraged someone else, Ino only drew more resolve from it. It's not like she could ever be upset about it; after all, it was because of those very friends that she had begun to actually focus on her training at all!

Those thoughts sent Ino down the path of introspection; a path she seemed to have been treading a lot lately. Though while she had mostly considered how she could better herself, or improve her training regimen without killing herself, today she began to think of why she had been unable to focus on her training in the first place: Sasuke.

Why had she been so attracted to him before? It had become increasingly prevalent to her that she felt nothing for the tragic boy anymore except pity. So what had caused her to become so obsessed with him?

She tried to remember the first time she had felt anything for him. And that train of thought ended up leading her to Sakura, a former friend.

Ino suddenly remembered Sakura saying something about how cute Sasuke was when they were younger. Something that had made Ino angry for some reason… No, it wasn't what Sakura had said… It was more like how she'd said it or something… Could it be…?

Had Ino been mad because Sakura wasn't paying attention to her?

Yes, that was it, she realized. She vividly remembered now: Sakura had started talking about Sasuke, about how great he was, and Ino, in her juvenile anger, had declared that she also liked Sasuke. That had sparked a sudden rivalry between the two girls, one that had ended up ruining their friendship.

This led Ino to a rather disconcerting revelation: she had developed an obsession with the tragic boy merely because she had lost her best friend to a lie, and she wanted desperately to make that loss mean something. She had never even considered telling Sakura about her real feelings.

Ino suddenly felt extremely foolish. How could she have allowed herself to lose such a close friend just because she was afraid of Sakura not spending as much time with her? Nodding to herself, Ino decided that she had a responsibility to tell Sakura the truth, even if she couldn't break through the barriers she had helped bring between them.

Before she could consider how she was going to word her speech, however, a voice on the opposite end of the field yelled, "Naruto!"

* * *

Naruto and Raiden stopped their respective charges as soon as they heard someone call out the crimson-eyed warrior's name.

_It couldn't be…_ thought Naruto as he turned to face the newcomer… newcomer_s_, as a matter of fact.

Just as he'd thought, behind (and a little to left of) Hinata stood his old friend, Malak.

Naruto grinned widely and sheathed Force Edge. Then he and Malak walked up to each other and high-fived as Naruto asked, "What the hell are you doin' here, Bones?"

Chuckling at the nickname Dante and his son liked to use for him, Malak waved his hand in a dismissive manner and answered, "Well, I was getting fairly bored back in the city without my two favorite business associates, and you can only stare out at those bland buildings for so long, ya know?" The golden-eyed young man picked up and began twirling his cane and continued, "So I figured that by coming out here, not only would I get to see my most favorite people, but I'd even get a much needed change of scenery! It was a win-win!"

Naruto laughed, but he didn't miss the look in Malak's eyes; he had an ulterior motive. But what could _Malak_, of all people, believe is important enough to travel all this way for?

Quite honestly, Naruto wasn't very sure he wanted to find out.

"You been to see Dad yet?" Naruto asked, catching on to why Malak was really in Konoha.

"Why, no I haven't! I don't suppose I could get you to lead me to him, could you? I'm dying in a very harsh manner to my old friend again!" the eccentric man said dramatically.

Naruto turned to Raiden and shrugged, saying, "Guess we'll continue this a little later." Raiden nodded and smiled back at his friend as he walked over to pick up some of his thrown shuriken.

When Naruto turned to Malak, he didn't fail to notice that the man's golden eyes were trained on Raiden with a pensive expression. Then Malak shrugged and shook his head, apparently dismissing whatever thoughts he'd been entertaining.

Naruto decided to write it off as Malak's usual weirdness for now; whatever the informant had to tell Dante took precedence at the moment.

The pair headed back towards the village.

* * *

As each strike of the hammer bent the heated metal to Tenten's desire, the young smith couldn't help couldn't help but think of the person she was forging the new weapon for.

Her and her team had been off duty for the past few days, since Gai was off on a Jonin mission, and she and Raiden had been spending as much time together as possible. But then she had realized something: Raiden's birthday was in a little over two weeks, and she hadn't even started on a present for him! So when the amethyst-eyed boy had told her that he was training with the rest of the gang (minus Hinata) after the Academy let out, she had declined his offer to join them, saying she had to help her father in the shop.

As if on cue, a man's head with dark, shaggy hair and a matching beard poked through the forge's door and asked in a deep, bass voice, "You gonna drag yourself away from the anvil anytime soon?"

Tenten glanced at her grinning father with a smile of her own and replied with a simple, "Nope."

Kenta's grin widened at his daughter and he told her, "Well, don't work too hard. After all, _Raiden_ wouldn't want you to kill yourself on his behalf." With his piece said, Kenta went back into the shop proper.

Now blushing at the way her father had said Raiden's name, Tenten nevertheless smiled and chuckled helplessly at Kenta's antics. She was just glad he was so supportive of her relationship with Kakashi's younger brother.

Tenten set the hammer down for a moment, took a deep breath, pictured exactly what she wanted in her mind again, and then went back to work.

* * *

Naruto and Malak were sitting in the Yondaime's old house with Dante, an opened pizza box (with only one-third of the actual pizza still contained in it) left sitting in the middle of the kitchen table.

"_Leave it to Dante to find the _one_ pizza place in the entire freakin' village,"_ Malak had commented upon entering the kitchen.

The air was now filled with tension and solemn looks as Dante asked, "You really think it's possible? Can Mundus actually get to the human world?"

Malak nodded and said, "Absolutely. It was one of the reasons Sparda went through the trouble of reinforcing the 'wall' between the human and demon worlds by sealing the Temin-ni-guru." Malak paused and entered a thinking posture; Naruto and Dante made sure to keep quiet, giving the genius time to mull it all over again.

Lifting his head, Malak began again, "Perhaps Arkham's opening of that seal weakened the barrier enough for Mundus to gain a firm enough foothold to begin the process… It's certainly possible he sensed the fluctuation in the barrier. But since the gate was decidedly short-lived, he couldn't get all the way through…" he shook his head, "But this is all just speculation. All I know is that the demons are getting all riled up for one reason or another. For all I know it's just mating season!" He was grinning at that last part.

Dante and Naruto both managed a light-hearted laugh, lightening the mood for a moment, but they realized the implications. They just had to hope that the Prince of Darkness wouldn't show his face before Konoha hosted the Chunin exams. After all, they'd both promised to help fend off the imminent assault of the Sound and, probably, the Sand as well.

But if Mundus really _had_ found a way back…

Shaking his head, Dante said, "You're right Malak. We don't know exactly what's goin' on, and we can't take action without any knowledge. We'll just have to settle for bein' extra observant.

"In the meantime," the white-haired man continued, "Why don't you stick around Konoha, Malak? Me and Naruto could certainly use an informed friend close-by." Naruto nodded his consent.

Malak just grinned. Dante had already informed him of the reason the demon-hunter had been called to Konoha, and Malak knew Dante was hoping the golden-eyed eccentric would help. And, of course, he'd be around to keep Sparda's descendant informed of any demonic happenings.

And Dante already knew what his response would be.

Dante smiled back. "Alright. We'll head to the Hokage and get him to set you up," he told the golden-eyed man. He then turned to Naruto and said, "You should head back to your friends, kid. They're likely getting bored without ya."

Smiling, Naruto gave them the peace sign and left the house.

When he heard the front door close, Malak's grin disappeared. He looked at Dante to find the same solemn look he was likely wearing himself planted on the demon-hunter's face.

"Dante…" Malak said in a soft voice, "If it really is Mundus…"

The white-haired man reached across the table, gripped his friend's arm, and said, "I know, Malak. If it comes to that… I'll keep my promise."

Malak could only nod.

* * *

"I… I just d-don't know what came over me…" Hinata said, finishing the tale of her father's 'test'. The shy Hyuuga sighed; it was amazing how much easier dealing with problems was when you had people you could talk to.

"Well, from what you've told us about this… 'father' of yours, I sure as hell don't blame you for being angry," Naruto (who had returned only about ten minutes prior) said, a frown on his face. Ever since hearing Hinata's tales of how Hiashi treated her, Naruto had expressed a profound dislike for the man, even more so than the rest of the group (and that was certainly saying something).

Raiden chimed in with, "I agree with Naruto, wholeheartedly. Quite honestly, Hinata, I think I can safely say that all of us are surprised you didn't snap _years_ ago." He looked around at the others as they each nodded their heads in agreement.

"Personally," Hananoki added, "I'd have expected you to turn out more like Neji." At the inquisitive look Hinata gave her, Hananoki clarified, "You know, acting like you've got some kind of grudge against the world. Honestly, the guy's got a lot of rage…"

Then Ino gave her opinion, "I say you should have hit him a few more times for good measure."

The group shared a laugh, and even Hinata giggled.

_It's great to have friends,_ Hinata said to herself.

* * *

"Hey, old man, I got a favor to ask ya," Dante said to announce his presence to the Hokage as he entered the Sandaime's office, Malak trailing behind him.

Unfortunately, he found his timing to less than impeccable (once again); the Hokage was apparently in the middle of a conversation with a woman Dante had never seen before.

Despite the rude entrance, the Hokage smiled; he actually found Dante's lack of formality quite refreshing. "Ah, it's good to see you, Dante. I'd like to introduce you to Anko Mitarashi; she was just promoted from Tokubetsu to full Jonin. Anko, this is my old friend, Dante."

The kunoichi in question turned to face the demon-hunter, and Dante really liked what he saw: violet hair done up in a spiky ponytail, pupil-less, yet piercing eyes of light-brown, a tan trench coat, a thin chainmail body-suit extending from her neck to her thighs, a dark orange skirt, gray shin guards, and a red pendant, all wrapped around a very shapely body of slightly pale skin.

However, it was her mischievous smirk that Dante found most captivating.

"Hello, Mister Dante," Anko said, extending a slender hand to the white-haired man, who took it immediately, "I've heard quite a bit about you. Glad to see that not all the rumors are baseless."

Dante cocked an eyebrow and responded, "And which rumors might those be, Miss Anko?"

She only laughed and asked, "Wouldn't you like to know?" Then Anko looked to the side and said, "Though I don't believe I've heard of your friend."

That's when the Sandaime finally noticed the other man that had entered the room with Dante, and his eyes widened with recognition.

Malak swept his bowler hat into his signature bow as he said, "Call me Malak, Miss Anko. It is a pleasure to meet you." Then he turned to the Hokage and repeated the bow, this time saying, "And it is an honor to be in the presence of one so great, Sandaime-Hokage. And a second time, at that! A great honor indeed!"

Sarutobi offered a frown in response. He'd met Malak years ago; Dante had actually called him in to help the Yondaime finish his seal when the Kyuubi attacked. And the Sandaime could tell that he hadn't changed a bit.

"I see you despise authority just as much as you did the last time I had the displeasure of meeting you," the Sandaime said.

Hands clapping together, Malak exclaimed, "With as fantastic a passion as ever!"

The old Hokage heaved a heavy sigh, then turned to Anko and said, "My apologies Anko, but could you wait outside for a few minutes? I imagine Dante and his… associate have something to discuss with me in private."

Anko, catching the look in the Hokage's eyes, just nodded and walked out of the room… but not before she smacked Dante on the ass.

Staring at the door with a slight blush and an intrigued expression, Dante almost forgot the real reason he was there. He shook his head clear of the distraction, and took a seat in front of the Sandaime. Malak did the same, both of them suddenly all business.

Sarutobi looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment, then heaved another sigh. Even the eccentric Malak was serious… this wasn't going to be good news.

"What's wrong, Dante?" he asked.

"Well…" the demon-hunter and his companion exchanged glances, "It's kind of a long story…"

* * *

Half an hour later, Kakashi found himself staring at the three kids standing at attention in front of him. He looked to his left and asked, "You guys think they're ready?"

Both Raiden and Hananoki nodded.

The one-eyed Jonin nodded back, then pulled out three blank slips of paper, and handed one each to Naruto, Ino, and Hinata.

"Alright," Kakashi began, "Raiden and Hananoki asked me earlier in the week to help you guys with your ninjutsu training, but since I had a mission to take care of first, I couldn't make it 'til today. But now I'm here, so without further ado…" he cleared his throat, "That piece of paper you now hold is used to determine a person's chakra nature. I assume you all know what that is." Receiving three nods, he continued, "When I tell you too, I want you to channel your chakra into that paper. We'll see what kind of nature you have by watching how the paper reacts. Now… channel."

Hinata's paper suddenly grew extremely soggy; Ino's was promptly cleaved in half; Naruto's proceeded to cut itself in half, then catch fire and burn to ash.

_Huh… Why am I not surprised?_ Kakashi asked himself. Given the fact that Naruto had two different chakra systems, it wasn't a shock that he'd have an equal number of natures. _And for one of them to be wind… He's definitely your son, Sensei._

The one-eyed Jonin considered the girls' slips of paper: Hinata would be the easiest for him to help, seeing as how he'd copied a fair number of water jutsu in his days.

Ino, however, had come as quite a shock; Yamanaka were usually water-natured, when they chose to pursue jutsu outside of their clan techniques. And a ninja with a wind nature was definitely a rare find in the Land of Fire; Minato and Asuma had been the only ones he'd ever heard of.

"Alright then," Kakashi began, "Hinata, your paper is telling me you're water-natured; which is good. I'm fairly well-acquainted with water jutsu. Naruto, it seems you have a dual nature: fire and wind. I've gathered a nice-sized collection of fire jutsu, believe it or not. It's almost like we live in a 'Land of Fire' or something…" he eye-grinned at the gathered kids.

They just stared blankly back at him.

_Wow, tough crowd…_ After heaving a sigh, he continued, "Anyway, it seems you share the wind nature with Ino, and, to be honest, I don't think I'll be much help to you guys in that regard. My experience with the wind element is… rather limited." At Ino's suddenly downcast face and the slight disappointment he saw in Naruto's, he told them, "But, I do happen to know someone who also has a wind nature. I'll be sure to speak to him about helping you both." That seemed to brighten the moods of both of the kids in question.

Kakashi looked between the three kids in front of him.

"Hinata, why don't you work with Hananoki for today? She'll get you started with your water manipulation," the one-eyed Jonin said to the shy Hyuuga. Hinata nodded in response, and walked over to stand next to Hananoki.

"Ino, I hate to ask this, but do you think you could wait a day? I promise I'll have my friend with me tomorrow so that he can start training you, but I want to get Naruto started with his fire element today," Kakashi said apologetically.

Naruto immediately began to object (he didn't want his friend's training forsaken just for him!), but Ino cut him short with, "Sure, Kakashi." Then she turned to Raiden and asked, innocently, "Do you think you could help me out today?"

Smirking in a knowing way, Raiden nodded, causing the others to exchange confused glances. He began to walk out of the clearing towards a more secluded area of the forest, and Ino swiftly followed.

After all, Ino wanted to keep her secret project as secret as possible.

* * *

_Ah… here comes that old headache…_ Sarutobi thought as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. His job just kept getting better and better.

He opened his eyes and gazed at Malak, having just heard his main theory (and his various, less-scary-though-less-likely ones) on the recent increase in demonic activity. Then he said, "And so you offer your assistance in our… security matter, if you're allowed to set up shop here. That way you can warn Dante _and_ me if what you fear proves to be true."

Malak merely nodded, all business (for the moment, at least).

The Sandaime sighed in resignation. Despite his dislike for Malak's character, it could not be denied that he was possessed of brilliant fighting ability, and an even brighter mind. He could certainly be an asset to Konoha should it come to blows with Sound and Sand.

After reaching into a drawer in his desk and pulling out a folder, he began to flip through, saying, "Let's see what I've got here…"

* * *

Two weeks passed by Konoha uneventfully… though there had been some talk in the streets about some crazy guy setting up some kind of weird, cult shop in the middle of the Market District (within view of the Hokage Tower). More than one person had even claimed they'd heard explosions and other unsettling noises coming from the building on more than one occasion.

But today was an important day for those currently sitting in the Hatake household; today was Raiden's birthday.

The guest of honor was seated at the kitchen table with a pile of presents from his friends and guests in front of him. There was one wrapped in blue from Kakashi and a bright green one from Hananoki; Hinata and Ino had both worked together to get him one sealed in yellow paper; the red present had come from the pooled resources of Naruto and Dante; and Tenten had placed her gift in a deep purple wrap.

"Come on, bro," Kakashi said, "Don't keep us waiting. The suspense is killing us."

Raiden gave his brother a skeptical look; Kakashi seemed to be the most relaxed in the room, leaning against the wall with Dante like that.

Nevertheless, the amethyst-eyed boy reached across the table and picked up Hananoki's present first. It was a large, square package, wide but thin. He opened up the wrapping…

And had to keep himself from yelling with delight as he stared at a large painting of a nighttime view of a cliff overlooking the dark ocean. A lone wolf stood on the edge of the cliff, howling at the beautifully realized moon.

Raiden looked up at Hananoki (who was now standing next to him) with a bright sparkle in his eyes, though his face had a quizzical expression pasted on.

"Have you been in your room recently?" the ocean-eyed girl asked sarcastically, while her eyes glittered with happiness, "It's so… bland! I figured you could use something to liven the place up a bit."

Grinning, Raiden replied, "Alright, _Mom._ I'll be sure to hang this up later." He reached up and hugged Hananoki, who squeezed back with twice the force.

Looking around, Kakashi had to hold in a chuckle; it was obvious the significance of Hananoki's present had been lost on the others in the room. Not that he expected Raiden had ever told anyone else of his little secret, but still…

Kakashi's present was next. It was smaller than the last, and rectangular in shape. Raiden could make a pretty good guess at what it was, judging by its weight, and knowing his brother…

The wrapping came off, and Raiden shared a particularly strange grin with his older brother.

Tenten looked over her boyfriend's shoulder and then just gave a hopeless sigh as she gazed at the little orange book in his hands.

After voicing his thanks (and Kakashi responding with a thumbs up) Raiden moved on to Naruto and Dante's gift; a short, wide, square box.

Upon opening it, Raiden found his eyes widening, and Tenten let out a low whistle behind him.

Inside the box sat a polished, four-bladed windmill shuriken next to a leather sheath it could be held in while folded. Picking it up, Raiden noticed its light weight, the keenly sharpened edges, the strange seals painted on it, and how strong it was despite the perceived thinness of the metal.

Amethyst eyes stared alternately between Naruto and his father.

"I've come across all sorts of weapons in my adventures," Dante told him. "Never been good at makin' 'em myself, but customization has always been a favorite pastime of mine. Been teachin' Naruto to do it to." The white-haired man winked, "Wasn't nearly that light when we picked it up."

Raiden's crimson-eyed friend just gave him that foxy grin.

Next came Hinata and Ino's; their gift was contained in a box similar in shape to the last, but a couple sizes larger.

About twenty seconds after he had opened it, Raiden was sporting his new jacket. The material was soft, and it was lightweight, despite falling to the middle of his thighs. It was deep violet in color, with gold trim lining the edges, and the kanji for 'flash' had been embroidered on the back with thread the same color as the trim.

The young fighter immediately noticed the concessions made for his favorite pastime; the light material made sure that he'd be slowed down only marginally, the front lacked any zippers or buttons so that it couldn't be closed up and hinder his access to his utility belt, and while the jacket fell down pretty far, it did so stylishly without fear of tripping him up during a battle.

"So," Raiden addressed to the room, his arms out wide, "how do I look?"

Ino and Hinata stared at their friend for a moment, then looked at each other, Ino wearing a large grin, and Hinata a wide smile. They high-fived and Ino said, "We rock."

Hananoki whistled and said to the duo, "Whoa… did you guys make that yourselves?"

"Yeah, we've been working on it together since you told us about his birthday," Ino stated, speaking for both partners. "I tell ya, I could never have made something like that myself," the blonde continued, "but Hinata's a fashion genius!"

Hinata cut in, "I-Ino, don't sell yourself short. I wouldn't have been able to g-get it done if you hadn't been there to help. And you're the o-one who came up with the actual design."

"Details, details," Ino said, waving her hand dismissively, though she held a slight blush and a smile on her face.

And then there was one; Tenten's gift was last, and (while he had loved all the other presents) Raiden had to admit that it was definitely his favorite.

In the elongated container sat a kyoketsu shoge: twenty feet of blackened chain connecting a hand-sized metal ring with a six-inch, double-edged blade. Raiden had only heard of the weapons that had predated the more popular kusarigama; he'd never seen, let alone used, one in his life…

He grinned fiercely at the prospect of a new challenge.

Tenten's arms wrapped around him, her chin settled on his shoulder, and she said, "You like it?"

"I _love_ it," her boyfriend responded before planting a soft kiss on her cheek. She turned slightly and smiled warmly into amethyst eyes.

And just between those amethyst eyes a tension began to build in intensity, and Raiden knew he could no longer ignore it. _Of course! It just had to happen _today_ of all days, didn't it?_

"Now, if you'll all excuse me for a moment," Raiden said, gently pulling himself from Tenten's arms, "I've _really_ gotta use the bathroom." He swiftly exited the room.

Everyone in the room exchanged incredulous glances; something about how Raiden had exited the room had been… tense. Distracted. It wasn't like him, even if he actually did need to answer Nature's Call.

They gave him a minute though… and then three minutes… at five minutes, Naruto asked, "You don't think he drowned, do you?"

The others chuckled; all except for Tenten. She knew had seen him like that before, she just couldn't remember any specific incidents. "I think I'm going to make sure he's okay," she said.

Coming to the bathroom door, Tenten noticed she didn't hear any sounds coming from it at all. She knocked and said, "Raiden?" No response was offered, and that was more than enough reason for her to throw the door open and barge in.

Blood dripping from the edge of the sink, and pool of it had formed under the head of a face-down, unconscious Raiden.

"RAIDEN!!!" she screamed.

* * *

Climbing from his basement, his hair still frazzled and his pale face still blackened with smoke from his latest experiment, Malak rushed to get his duster on. Once he had an arm in one of his sleeves, he hurried to his hat rack and plopped his bowler hat haphazardly on his head. He stumbled out the door, still trying to get his duster all the way on, while one hand had somewhere gotten a hold of a handkerchief and was cleaning his face.

Focusing on a certain energy signature as he flew through the streets of Konoha, Malak told the world, "I knew it!"

* * *

Vision finally returning, Raiden found himself staring up at an unfamiliar, white ceiling. When he tried to sit up a gentle halted his ascent, and eased him back down onto the pillow of the hospital bed.

"Don't try to move, Raiden," Tenten told him softly, "The doctors say you have a concussion."

He turned his head slightly and saw his girlfriend, along with Hananoki, looking down at him worriedly. "What happened?" he asked, with a little slur to his words.

"Actually," Kakashi said from the other side of the room, "We were kind of hoping you could tell _us_ that." The one-eyed Jonin moved up behind the girls. "Tenten found you unconscious on the bathroom floor with your head cracked open. There was blood on the sink, we assume where you hit your head." A hand as gentle as Tenten's had been rested on his shoulder and Kakashi asked him, "Do you remember anything?"

After a moment of silence, Raiden answered, "No."

But none of his loved ones caught the lie; they were undoubtedly too worried about him.

"Then it seems the mystery still remains!" someone said enthusiastically from the doorway.

"Uh… Malak? What the hell are you doing here?" Dante asked the newcomer, thoroughly confused.

The golden-eyed man pushed past the other people in the room, answering Dante's question with a vague wave of his hand and, "Don't worry, I'm sterile. I won't be giving him any more infections than absolutely necessary."

Before anyone could voice their objections to Raiden being infected at all, the eccentric man reached Raiden's bedside and continued, "Now, if I could have complete and utter silence, I will begin my medical examination!" Malak stared at the prone boy for a grand total of five seconds before declaring, "I have it!" He pointed to Raiden and exclaimed, quite dramatically, "This young man has suffered a cranial injury!"

Naruto and Hinata both had to stifle chuckles at Malak's antics, while the others practiced their synchronized face-plants.

Once again, before any objections could be voiced, Malak went on, though this time he stared directly into Raiden's eyes as he said, "Yes, I see… It's as if everything is _blurring_ together… Not chaotically, no, but almost… _harmoniously_… As if I'm beginning to see things… _as they should be_. How interesting…"

Raiden had to consciously fight the urge to widen his eyes and gaze at the man in shock; Malak had just perfectly described his 'visions', obviously on purpose, and yet Raiden had not said a word to anyone on the subject.

Turning to the room's other inhabitants, Malak said, suddenly completely serious, "I'd like a few moments alone with the young man, if I may."

"Now hold on…" Kakashi began. Dante's hand on his shoulder stopped the Jonin from going on his rant.

"Kakashi, you can trust him, remember?" Dante whispered to his friend, "I know he's hard to accept, but he's helped me out of more tight spots than I care to count. If not him, then at least trust me."

Kakashi took in a deep breath, and said, "Come on guys, let's give Malak some space."

The friends exited the room, Tenten even more reluctantly than Kakashi had; she kept looking over her shoulder only to see Malak waving goodbye with Raiden eyeing the man with…

Suspicion?

* * *

Malak exited the room a few minutes later, and told the gang waiting just outside the room for him, "Well, that's about all I can do for him. The rest," he swept his arm out dramatically, "is up to him." With a tip of his hat, the eccentric man departed, muttering under his breath about things like 'experiments' and 'less volatile reactions'.

Tenten entered the hospital room first, and noted the distant expression on her boyfriend's face. "What'd Malak say?" she asked him.

His expression shifted easily into a deadpan, as he said, "That I might want to 'keep from engaging in much physical activity, particularly of the violent kind, until my cranial injury has managed to right itself'."

Tenten's expression immediately matched Raiden's and she shook her head muttering, "What the hell is up with that weirdo?"

Dante stayed neared the doorway, watching closely as Raiden stretched out his arms, and discreetly adjusted his pillow in the process. The demon-hunter noted that seemed as if something was underneath the pillow… a book, perhaps?

Resisting the urge to sigh, Dante reminded himself of what he had told Kakashi, to trust in Malak. If his old friend wasn't telling Dante about whatever was going on with the kid, then Dante didn't need to know.

… Too bad that knowledge didn't keep the not-knowing from being decidedly irritating.

* * *

Raiden was released from the hospital a couple days later, after Kakashi had gotten an actual med-nin to see to his younger brother.

The next day at the Academy, he and his friends were reminded that graduation was in only four months, and that diligent practice would be crucial to success.

Grinning at each other, the friends all but laughed off what Iruka had said to them.

After all, diligent practice was what they did best.

* * *

Four months flew by for the busy gang of friends, and graduation came and went faster (and much easier) than any of them had thought.

Naruto currently sat between Raiden and Hananoki, pondering the recent behavior of the former.

Ever since his birthday, Raiden had been keeping to himself a little more than was usual for him. Naruto suspected that Malak had done more than just tell the amethyst-eyed youth to rest; but when he had brought it up with the eccentric man, Malak had told Naruto 'not to worry about it so much' and to 'give it time'.

_Dammit… Give _what_ time?!_ he still wondered.

The others had noticed Raiden's slight change in behavior as well, but they had all agreed that if he had a problem he couldn't work out himself, he would undoubtedly bring it up with them. So they let it go.

Naruto hated letting mysteries go.

Like that damned lake! The crimson-eyed warrior still hadn't figured out what was up with the power in that body of water. Again he had brought it to Malak's attention, but upon examining the lake for a good ten minutes, all he had said was, _"Whatever's down there obviously wants to be left alone. Best to give it what it wants."_ And Malak hadn't said another word on the subject… and it drove Naruto crazy!

Naruto looked around the room, forcing his thoughts elsewhere. He decided to take the time to see who else had passed the extremely simple graduation 'test'.

That emo kid, Sasuke, had passed; so had his annoying, pink-haired fangirl (he didn't fail to notice the weird looks she kept throwing Ino's way, filing the information away for later); the smelly dog-guy had made it; so had that really lazy kid that always slept in class; the lazy kid's chubby friend passed; that creepy, silent, sunglasses-wearing kid had done it; and so had the stocky, red-haired guy that Naruto had watched Raiden take down his first day at the Academy.

Then the crimson-eyed warrior considered his female friends; each had seen their share of changes over the past few months.

Hananoki had let her mahogany hair grow out, and it now reached down to her shoulder blades, and she now wore a sky-blue, sleeveless shirt with green leaves falling sporadically around the shirt, a light green skirt with blue waves tossing about the bottom that reached to just above her knees, dark-brown, leather boots, and similarly colored gloves of the same material.

Ino's appearance hadn't changed a bit, but she now carried herself with more maturity and confidence than she had before. She no longer fawned over Sasuke, and Naruto hadn't seen her flirt with a guy since his fifth week in Konoha.

The one who had changed the most, however, had definitely been Hinata. While she was still very shy, she now spoke without a stutter, and she carried herself with her own quiet confidence. The changes didn't end there for the Hyuuga girl though; she had started wearing her hair in a high bun, and she had taken to wearing a loose, white T-shirt with a single, blue rose embroidered on the front tucked into navy blue jeans with a black belt holding them up, a pair of black, leather guards that covered the entirety of her forearms, and black, shinobi sandals.

Before Naruto could ponder anything further, the door opened and Iruka finally walked in.

"Congratulations to all those who managed to pass the exam," he began. The scarred man proceeded to lecture about the responsibility of a ninja and other boring things. But then he finally said, "I will now announce your three-man Genin cells." The classroom immediately perked up.

"First, on Team Seven: Naruto," the crimson-eyed warrior raised his eyebrow, "Hananoki," the two of them high-fived, "and Gisei." Naruto and Hananoki looked over to the stocky, red-haired boy. He nodded to the two them, his expression serious.

"Next Team Eight: Kiba, Shino, and Sakura." The pink-haired girl responded with a wail about not being on Sasuke's team, the dog-boy looked rather indignant, and the sunglasses-guy just sat there, as silent as ever.

"Team Nine: Raiden," the amethyst-eyed ninja perked up, "Hinata," they exchanged smiles, "and Sasuke." Raiden blinked at this, turned and looked at the last Uchiha, then muttered, "Fuck."

"And finally, Team Ten: Ino," the blond-haired girl couldn't help but sigh; she knew what was coming next, "Shikamaru, and Choji." Ino turned to smile at the sons of her father's friends, only to find Choji attempting to wake a sleeping Shikamaru. She sighed again.

"Now all that's left for you all to wait for your respective senseis," Iruka finished. "They should be along momentarily." Then he left the room, leaving the twelve kids to enjoy the sudden silence.

* * *

**BONUS SCENE!!!**

(A/N: This little scene is has no real influence on the story, but I wanted to throw it in as a dedication to a great friend of mine. You know who you are.)

Naruto and his friends sat in a circle on a large picnic blanket, the remnants of their lunch lying in the middle. Tenten had suggested that one day they have a picnic lunch while they were all out training, that way they didn't have to go all the way back to the village, then back to their favorite clearing, and vise-versa.

"Wow, Naruto," Ino said, "I didn't know you were such a good cook!"

Grinning and blushing, the crimson-eyed warrior told her, "Yeah, well… Pizza and strawberry sundaes are great, but sometimes you just need to eat… something else. I learned the hard way that Dad lacks any sort of cooking ability, so I had to just… teach myself. I'm glad you guys like it all!"

Everyone nodded their heads in appreciation, acknowledging that 'yes, they did like his cooking'.

Then Naruto's eyes widened, and he said, "Oh, hey guys! I've been thinking… We need to come up with a team name."

The others blinked, and Raiden voiced the question on all their minds, "A what?"

"A team name, like in the comic books! Ya know, like: The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, or The Justice League!" Naruto said excitedly.

Looking at each other and shrugging, the others assumed pensive postures. After a minute of thought, Hinata said, "I think…"

"Team Death-Falcon!!!" Hananoki exclaimed.

The rest of the group sweat-dropped, and Raiden gave her a stern look and said, as if he were lecturing a child, "Hana… remember that talk we had about naming things? And how you shouldn't? Especially after that 'pet' of yours…"

Hananoki entered a pouting pose, and said indignantly, "Lieutenant-General Crusher-Feet was a good pigeon…"

Raiden heaved the heaviest sigh any of them had ever heard. "That's not the point…"

"I have an..."

"We should try to make it meaningful," Ino said, interrupting Hinata. "Something that has to do with how we all met or something…"

"Or we could…"

Tenten interrupted Hinata with, "By that logic, we'd just call ourselves 'Team Naruto', since he's the one who really brought this group together."

Naruto shook his head, saying, "No way. We need a name that means something to all of us!"

"Actually, that's what…"

Off from the side came a new voice to get in Hinata's way, "Hey, Naruto!"

Malak landed not far from the picnic blanket, obviously very excited as he said, "Naruto! I've made a breakthrough! I've…" He was cut off as a large, metal bowl that had once contained something called 'potato salad' slammed into his face. The bowl slid slowly from his now red face, and the eccentric man fell backwards. Malak was officially unconscious.

All heads turned to Hinata.

When she realized what she had just done her face grew redder than Malak's had, and she fainted.

The gang swiftly forgot about their previous discussion in favor of tending to the two unconscious friends.

So much for a team name…

* * *

**Author's Notes:** This was probably the most exhausting chapter I've done so far. Nearly constant rewrites and edits have finally left me with this, and I sincerely hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as the previous ones! Because despite my complaints, I certainly had fun writing it . Anyway, as per the usual, I ask that you please R&R.


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes:** Yay! Another chapter finished! Let's see what happens this time…

* * *

_**Chapter 6- Genin Exams and a Question Answered**_

It didn't pass by the notice of Team Nine's sensei that while Raiden and Hinata walked comfortably side-by-side (Raiden's nose buried in a little orange book she knew quite well), Sasuke stayed behind the two of them, and every time she looked back, the last Uchiha was staring straight at the young Hatake's back with a strange expression.

Anko sighed to herself. Why the hell had she signed up for this?

They finally came to the restaurant Anko had been leading them to, and they were quickly seated. Ten minutes went by as orders were taken and promptly delivered… and it all passed by in silence.

_My, what a talkative bunch,_ Anko mused as she ate her beloved dango. She'd heard the Hyuuga girl was especially shy, and the Uchiha was a brooder, but she'd figured she'd at least get something from the Hatake. Sure, he looked pretty busy reading, but she hadn't been made a Jonin for nothing; there was something else going on. Part of her expected it had something to do with Sasuke, but the real problem seemed to run a little deeper than that… Which likely meant it wasn't any of Anko's damn business.

The violet-haired woman could respect that, of course; everyone had their own demons to face.

"Okay guys and gal," the new sensei began, "I don't know you; you don't know me. I figure we might want to remedy that if we're gonna do this whole 'team' thing."

Without missing beat, or even looking up from his book, Raiden quipped, "Then why don't you go first, Anko-sensei? Age before beauty, ya know…" He flicked a hand in the direction of the kunai that suddenly flew at his face (and precious book) and the deadly projectile soared straight up into the air. Raiden made a couple motions with his hand, and the kunai stopped in midair, realigned itself, and then flew right back at the thrower.

Anko easily caught the kunai with a quirked eyebrow; the kid had manipulated his lighting chakra to control her kunai without once looking up from his book. He really _was_ as good as she'd heard.

"Working with you is gonna be a pain in my ass, isn't it?" she asked the amethyst-eyed ninja.

Raiden's eyes still failed to lift from the pages, but she saw the mischievous smirk gleaming in them as he responded, "Well, I mean, if you're into that sort of thing, that's your business, but, unfortunately, I have a girlfriend."

Hinata blushed so fiercely she resembled a ripened tomato; Sasuke almost choked to death on his soda; Anko nearly laughed her ass off.

Once she'd regained a bit of composure, the new sensei stated, "I'll be honest with you kid: If I wasn't already seeing somebody, I might be slightly disappointed."

Raiden finally looked up, and said, a frown disagreeing with the humor in his eyes, "Only slightly? Sensei, you wound me…" He placed an open hand over his heart.

Sasuke just sat there with his head down as his new sensei and Raiden had one of the strangest (and most perverted) verbal jousts he'd ever heard. He glanced to the side and thought that Hinata must be having similar thoughts, given how red her face was.

Shaking his head, the last Uchiha considered again how strange fate was; he had been placed on a team with Raiden!

For the past couple of years, Sasuke had taken a look back on that day he had truly rejected Raiden's (and in the process, Hananoki's) friendship with a disturbing amount of regret. He kept telling himself it had been the right thing to do. The easiest way to avoid temptation, after all, was to avoid that which would tempt you.

Yet, every time Sasuke saw Raiden and Hananoki walking side-by-side through Konoha, he always found himself wishing he was right there beside them. He'd promised himself that Itachi would die for his crimes, and that he would be the one to kill his older brother… but did he really have to forsake his friends to do it?

His train of thought was derailed as his plate of food suddenly shook, and Sasuke looked up to see Anko wearing a triumphant smirk while grinding Raiden's face into the table.

"Ha! Finally gotcha, brat!" she declared, apparently having won some kind of contest. Unfortunately for her, the 'brat' burst into a cloud of smoke, his form being replaced with a flyer for one of the new plays being performed at the theater.

Twisting her head around in surprise, Anko blinked as Raiden came strolling back into the establishment with not a hair out of place. He casually sat back down, and, picking up the poster, said to Hinata, "You think Tenten would wanna go see this?"

Blinking away the suddenness of the question, the young Hyuuga examined the poster, and then responded, "I don't know… it seems too… boring."

Raiden took another look at the poster, and decided, "Yeah, you're probably right." Then, after wadding it up into a ball, Raiden tossed the poster aside… and right into Sasuke's face.

… _Then again,_ Sasuke considered, staring at the offending wad of paper, _Maybe friendship is overrated…_

Anko just shook her head at the young Hatake's antics. Then she brought her hand up to her chin and muttered, "Now… what was I saying before?" After a moment of thought, Anko snapped her fingers, and said, "Ah, yes! Now listen up good, kids, 'cause this is important." Not even stopping to see if anyone was paying attention, she went on, "Believe it or not, there's still _one_ more test you have to pass before you all become Genin. Meet me in front of the Forest of Death tomorrow morning at eight or so, and we'll get started." A smirk and a poof of smoke later, Anko (and her plate of dango) was gone.

A few moments passed in silence before Hinata said, "Wasn't she going to 'get to know us' or something?"

Raiden shrugged, saying, "I don't know. What I do know is," he got up, out of his seat, "is that we'd better make sure we're ready for this 'test' tomorrow morning."

Hinata nodded her consent and lifted herself up to follow Raiden out the door. The amethyst-eyed ninja stopped, however, turning to eye the last Uchiha, who was still sitting at the table, staring at his folded hands.

"You gonna sit there and contemplate how best to do your nails tomorrow, or are you gonna get your ass up and train with us?" Raiden asked Sasuke, his tone bored.

Sasuke shot a glare at Raiden, then got up, thinking, _Yep. Overrated._

* * *

"Wow! This stuff is great!" Ino declared, sitting at a table with her new team.

"I told you!" Choji said with a big grin on his face. "This restaurant has the best barbeque in the whole village!"

Asuma just smiled at his would-be students. They'd just spent half an hour just talking to each other, getting to know one another better. He'd known Ino for awhile now, of course, and he had been fairly surprised when Sarutobi had placed her in a team with people she barely knew; it hadn't escaped his notice that the others in Ino's group of friends had gotten that luxury. But, this was a chance to recreate the famous Ino-Shika-Cho group from the previous generation, and the Sandaime of Konoha couldn't lightly pass up that opportunity. So Asuma was glad that she seemed to be getting along pretty well with Shikamaru and Choji.

The new sensei turned and looked at Shikamaru, seeing the lazy young man staring at Ino with a quirked eyebrow while she ate. "I have to say, Ino, I'm surprised." When she gazed at him with her own quizzical expression, Shikamaru elaborated, "I mean, didn't you used to go on about dieting, and how that's how you kept your 'figure' or something? Barbequed meat seems like a strange thing to have on a diet."

Ino finished her bite, wiped her mouth with her napkin, and, a smirk on her face, "That's one of the neat things about 'training', Shikamaru. Not only does it make you a better ninja, but it even keeps you shape! You'd be surprised how well constant sparring, chakra control exercises, and ninjutsu practice can burn the calories!" Then Ino went back to eating.

_Ino? Training? What is this world coming to?_ Shikamaru thought, shaking his head. He figured it had something to do with her hanging out with Raiden and the foreigner, Naruto. Somehow, he doubted those two would respect, much less hang out with, someone who didn't take their training seriously.

Which led him to another question, but one he didn't think he could really ask Ino: Was she training because she actually _wanted_ to better herself, or did she merely do it to impress her masculine friends? He sighed, and thought, _Troublesome…_

"Alright guys, listen up for a moment," Asuma said, interrupting Shikamaru's thoughts. "I doubt any of you are going to like this, but there's one more test you all have to pass before we can officially declare ourselves a team." Ino and Choji's faces drooped, but Shikamaru looked almost like he'd been expecting it. "Meet me at Training Ground 10 tomorrow at around eight. I'll explain more then." Then Asuma got up and left the three to themselves.

* * *

Gisei couldn't believe his luck; he was currently sitting on the roof of the Academy with his new sensei: Kakashi Hatake! He couldn't wait to work with the infamous Copy-Nin (despite the fact that he had showed up an hour later than he should have).

And of course his new teammates were there as well, but he wasn't so sure about how well he'd be able to work with them. Hananoki had always seemed to be… well, weak, except perhaps when it came to ninjutsu. Then there was the foreigner… He just wasn't sure about Naruto. There was just something… off about the kid. Gisei had always gotten a weird vibe from him.

At the very least, they both seemed like nice people.

"Hello everyone," Kakashi said once the three new teammates had settled, "I'll be your sensei for the duration of your Genin career." He eye-grinned at them and, avoiding looking directly at Naruto, added "However long that is."

Naruto expertly hid his frown.

"Anyway, I'm personally familiar with Naruto and Hananoki, but," he directed his gaze on Gisei, "I've never had the pleasure of meeting you, my good man. So I think it's only fair that we all introduce ourselves to you, and then you can do the same, if you don't mind."

Gisei shook his head a bit nervously (which looked strange on one so bulky), and said, "Of course I don't mind, Hatake-sensei. I'd be very grateful, actually."

Chuckling, Kakashi told the young man, "No need to be so formal. Please, just call me Kakashi." Then he tapped at his chin and added, "I suppose I'll go first." The one-eyed Jonin cleared his throat and said, "As you obviously know, my name is Kakashi Hatake. I like… things; I dislike… things that I don't like; my hobbies are private; and my current goal is to finish the book I was reading before I came here." He pointed to Hananoki and said, a big grin behind his mask, "Your turn."

The three students sat in stunned silence for a minute before Hananoki managed to turn to Gisei and say to him, "Hi! I'm Hananoki Rinkan, and it's very nice to meet you. Um…" She glanced at Kakashi and decided to just copy off him. "I like flowers, trees, plants… uh, really just nature in general; I don't like people who judge others by appearances; my hobbies are gardening and training with my friends; my goal, at the moment, is to finish an original jutsu I've been working on for awhile." She slapped Naruto's back, and said, "Tag, you're it!"

Naruto, chuckling a little, turned to the boy sitting next to him and said, "Hey dude, I'm Naruto... Just Naruto. I like fighting and solving mysteries… although I'm not as good at that latter one… Anyway, I don't like… uh…" he really had to work to not say, 'demons', "people who demoralize others… and tofu… anyway, my hobbies include reading mystery novels and cooking," Kakashi lifted his visible eyebrow at that last one, "and my goal is… to make my parents proud of me." Neither of those close to him missed how he had pluralized 'parents'.

Gisei nodded at Naruto, a small smile on his face, and said, "An admirable goal; and one that we share."

Naruto smirked back and said, "Why would _you_ care what _my_ parents thought of you?"

Blinking, Gisei said, embarrassed, "Oh, uh, no, that's not… I meant… uh…"

"Hey man, I'm just joking with ya, I know what ya meant," Naruto told the now flustered Gisei, patting him on the shoulder.

Gisei, now even more embarrassed that he hadn't caught the sarcasm in the foreigner's words, responded with, "Oh, uh… Of course… Ah, anyway, my name is Gisei Shainingu; I like... well, peace and quiet; I dislike people who harm others for the sake of harming them; my hobbies are meditation and reading; and I believe I have already stated my goal, if somewhat improperly."

Naruto just stared at his bulky teammate and thought, _Holy crap… This guy's a freakin' monk!_

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Gisei," Kakashi said before Naruto could voice his observation, "I can't wait to see what you can do. So it's a good thing your final test before you all become Genin will be at eight o' clock tomorrow morning at Training Ground Seven! Oh, and don't eat breakfast; you'll probably just puke it up!" The one-eyed Jonin gave the kids a friendly wave to go along with his eye-grin, and promptly vanished.

The three new teammates stared blankly at the spot where their would-be sensei had been.

"Well… fuck," Naruto said, nicely summing up the thoughts of the other two in the process.

* * *

Raiden gazed at Sasuke from across the clearing, his face an expressionless mask.

Matching the expression, Sasuke readied himself. Upon entering the clearing, Raiden had asked Hinata to stay off to side, while he made sure Sasuke was 'up-to-snuff'. Normally, the last Uchiha would've been incredibly offended and angered. But Sasuke knew Raiden well enough to know that this fight would be pretty tough going… at the very least.

Suddenly, Raiden's fingers began flying through hand-seals. Sasuke began his own, though he knew he wouldn't be able to finish in time.

"**Lightening Release: Bolt**!" A blast of lightning crashed into the spot Sasuke had been standing in, but the last Uchiha had already leapt into the air, finishing his own hand-seals in the process.

"**Fire Release: Phoenix Immortal Fire**!" Sasuke's chest suddenly expanded, then he began spitting a rain of mini-fireballs at his opponent.

However, Raiden had expected this maneuver (having seen it in practice back when the Uchiha had yet to be slaughtered) and he had prepared accordingly.

He had placed the windmill shuriken that Naruto and Dante had given him for his birthday in its sheath, which he had attached to the back of his belt. Having drawn it with practiced speed, and unfolded it with a simple flick of the wrist, Raiden sent Senpuu (Whirlwind) flying at Sasuke.

The seals painted onto the blades activated, and the windmill shuriken began to gather more wind onto itself, increasing its velocity and cutting power; it easily dispersed any of the fireballs that would have even come close to hitting Raiden.

Not one to dismiss the threat of a high-velocity, bladed projectile flying towards him, Sasuke twisted in midair. He was able to avoid the shuriken's direct path, but ended up with a shallow cut across his back, courtesy of the winds propelling the weapon.

Upon landing, Sasuke discovered that a six-inch-long blade attached to a long chain was now speeding towards him. The blade passed his throat by mere inches, but then, propelled by some unseen force, it came back around and began wrapping the chain around Sasuke's neck. Once it had taken the second it needed to wrap three times, the kyoketsu shoge tightened its hold, choking the last Uchiha. Sasuke attempted to pry the chain apart, but found each layer of the noose to be firmly stuck to the last, as if glued, or…

_Magnetized,_ he realized, remembering Raiden's affinity for the lightening element. Upon further attempts to tear the chain from his throat, he realized there was some kind of writing inscribed onto the chain links, likely some kind of complex seal to assist the manipulation of lightening-based chakra.

Sasuke noticed a moment later that he was on his knees, and it was still really difficult to breathe. A shadow fell over him, and he looked up to see Raiden standing over him, an eyebrow quirked as he held the weapon's ring loosely in his hand. Sasuke also noticed that a folded windmill shuriken was being casually twirled in Raiden's other hand.

"That all ya got? I didn't think Matsuri (Tangle) would be able to take you down this easily," he 'tsked', "Too bad, Sasuke. I thought you'd be a slight challenge."

Sasuke growled at the amethyst-eyed ninja, then spun himself the opposite direction the weapon had taken to wrap him, freeing himself from its grip. He used the momentum to spin into a sweep kick, which Raiden avoided by jumping back, probably wanting to use one of his readied weapons. Instead of waiting for his opponent to begin yet another ranged assault, Sasuke charged.

In response, Raiden swiftly sheathed Senpuu, and then Matsuri… put itself away. The weapon began slithering its way up his arm, wrapping itself around Raiden's arm under the sleeve of his coat. When it was finished, the sleeve hid the weapon completely.

_Huh… Cool,_ Sasuke conceded silently to his opponent.

Sasuke's right punch met Raiden's left, high block; his right kick was pushed aside by Raiden's right hand. The amethyst-eyed ninja spun with his block, and whipped his left arm in a backfist at Sasuke's face. Sasuke ducked, snapping a kick at Raiden's knee at the same time; the leg deftly slid to the side, and a fist flew into Sasuke's field of vision, knocking him back before he could think to block it.

Raiden was about to give chase, but a pressure began slowly building between his eyes. He frowned for a second, concentrated… and the feeling was gone just as quickly as it had come.

When he looked again, Sasuke was already on his feet and rushing again. Raiden 'tsked' thinking, _Interruptions… _

* * *

Hinata sat cross-legged against a tree watching the one-sided bout progress. Sasuke fought furiously, doing everything he could to bypass Raiden's defenses. To no avail, of course. It was obvious that Raiden was in an entirely different league than Sasuke. And Raiden had recently commented to Hinata that she gave him quite a bit trouble whenever they sparred. That led to the realization that _she_ could probably beat the famous last Uchiha, which, in turn, led to a little swelling of pride within herself. Not all that long ago, Hinata would never have considered herself any sort of match for someone like Sasuke!

She gazed on as Sasuke took a side kick to the chest, and was thrown back for the second time in the past five minutes. Then someone right beside her snorted.

Hinata jumped, and looked to see Malak seated to her left in a posture similar to hers. "So that's the fabled 'last Uchiha?" the golden-eyed man asked out-loud. "I'm unimpressed." He turned to the blinking girl next to him, and, smiling, said, "Hello, Hinata. It's been a while; it's very nice to see you again."

Smiling back, Hinata said, "It's nice to see you too, Malak. But, what are you doing here?"

"Well," he responded, "I heard through the grapevine… such a strange analogy… how does one hear through a plant... Ah, anyway, I heard that you and Raiden had been paired with the last of the famous Uchiha clan, and I wanted desperately to see if the rumors of him being prodigal were true." Malak heaved a sigh, "Alas… you can't believe everything you hear."

He looked back to the fighters, and found Raiden glancing at him with a quirked eyebrow as he continued to expertly dodge, block, and counter Sasuke. Malak waved at him.

Then Malak took a deep breath and heaved himself to his feet, saying, "Well, I'd better go before I lose any more interest… ugh, perish the thought." He was about to walk away when he seemed to think of something, turned back to Hinata, and asked, "May I pose a question, Hinata?"

Tilting her head, the young Hyuuga answered, "Sure, Malak."

"I am…" he searched for the right words, "Well, I am, frankly, rather curious about your bloodline. I have…" he considered his words carefully; he didn't want to lie to the girl, but he didn't think she'd take the whole truth very well, "…encountered something similar in my travels, and was wondering if you would be willing to answer some questions so that I may compare the two."

Hinata blinked. There was something resembling the Byakugan outside of Konoha? Now _she_ was rather curious. So she said, "Of course. I'd like to hear more about this… 'something similar', myself."

Suddenly grinning, Malak clapped his hands together and said, "Excellent! Whenever you have some free time, just stop by my office… er, 'shop' I guess I'm supposed to call it now… Anyway, just whenever you're not busy would be fine." With that, the golden-eyed man swept his hat in his customary bow, and began his trek back to the village.

When Hinata looked back at the fight, there was no fight to look at; Raiden stood with his foot planted on Sasuke's chest, and about three feet of his kyoketsu shoge was extending from his right sleeve, straight as an arrow, and hovering just above Sasuke's neck.

The two stared into each other's eyes, and it seemed to Hinata that something silently passed between them. Raiden withdrew Matsuri, lifted his foot from Sasuke, and walked a few feet away. Then, as Sasuke lifted himself to his feet, Raiden turned to Hinata and said, "Come on, Hinata. He's pretty far behind, and we've got a day to catch him up. Best get crackin'."

Sasuke looked between Raiden, who was cracking his neck and knuckles, and Hinata, who was stretching herself in a show of flexibility that the last Uchiha figured would have left him with many, many pulled muscles.

…_Something tells me that this isn't going to be much fun…_ Sasuke thought.

* * *

Naruto plopped down against a tree, Hananoki having already taken the spot next to him. Gisei just kind of fell to his butt a couple feet in front of them, his five-foot, metal bo-staff clattering to the ground next to him.

"Those are some pretty neat techniques you've got there, Gisei," Naruto commented to the large kid, after having spent the past three hours training with him and Hananoki.

Smiling, Gisei said, "I've always thought my family's techniques were… 'neat', as well."

"So," Hananoki chimed in after a moment of silence, "How are we gonna beat Kakashi?"

The other two just blinked at her.

Hananoki rolled her eyes. "Come on, guys; it's obvious what our next test is. Kakashi's going to make sure we can actually function as a team. Hence the whole, 'final test after the final test' thing. Putting us on teams is all well and good, but if we can't get along all that's going to do is get us killed out in the field. If I know Kakashi, which I do, he's gonna try to trick us into splitting up and taking him on one-on-one… That's a bad idea, by the way."

The boys nodded, easily seeing the logic. After a couple minutes of thought, Gisei came up with an idea. "If what you've said about Kakashi is true, Hananoki, then perhaps this will be even easier than we all thought."

At the others' quizzical looks, Gisei told them of his plan.

Both grinning, Naruto and Hananoki exchanged glances; working with their new teammate was definitely going to be great.

* * *

Shikamaru's legs finally gave out from under him, deciding that the bruises he'd acquired in the last three hours were far more than enough.

His opponent put her hands on her hips. She looked between him and Choji, who was laying limply up against a nearby tree, with at least as many bruises as Shikamaru had. "Is that really all you two have? Come on, I haven't even broken a sweat yet!" Ino berated the two of them.

It was certainly true; Ino looked none the worse for wear, even after a full three hours of sparring both Shikamaru and Choji at the same time. Not that you could call what she'd been doing to them 'sparring', but still...

Shikamaru had spent the whole time trying to find a way for him to trap her in his Shadow Possession jutsu to no avail. Every strategy he had implanted with Choji failed when Ino would reveal yet another technique, maneuver, or ability in a surprising large arsenal.

As she stared at the two of them collapsed on the ground, Ino nodded to herself, reached around to a couple of small, thin, rectangular sheaths attached to her back, and pulled out one of her last tricks: a pair of steel fans. She unfolded the two of them, giving Shikamaru and Choji a nice view of the seals that had been carved into them. Then she flicked one in the direction of a tree right next to the one Choji sat against, and for a second nothing happened…

Then a perfect, diagonal cut became visible along the base of the trunk, and from their vantage points, the two boys could see that the cut extended a little more than halfway _through_ the tree itself.

They looked to Ino, who, smiling all too sweetly, said, "You both might want to get up. Being mobile is going to be _very_ important for the next few minutes… or the next hour. I haven't decided yet."

Both frowning, Shikamaru and Choji exchanged glances; working with their new teammate was definitely going to be horrible.

* * *

It wasn't until later that night that Tenten and her team finally returned from their most recent mission. When they got past the gates, Gai turned to his weary Genin and said, "It's been a long mission, and an even longer walk home. So why don't the three head on back to your beds and rest; I will deliver the report to the Hokage by myself."

Neji and Rock Lee both left without a word, too tired to do anything else. Gai walked on towards the Hokage Tower, leaving Tenten by herself.

She considered heading straight home, but all she'd thought about on the trip back was seeing Raiden again. They hadn't been able to spend much time together even before she'd sent on this most recent mission. And she'd been meaning to talk to him.

As Tenten headed towards the Hatake household, she considered the signs again: he'd seemed to be eating less (though that wasn't saying all _that_ much); the distracted look on his face whenever someone wasn't actively engaging him in conversation; his constant excuses to be alone; and, perhaps most of all… she'd seen him smiling less and less.

Raiden obviously had a big problem. Raiden obviously wasn't telling her what it was.

Tenten couldn't help but wonder: Was _she_ the problem?

It didn't make sense. They'd both wanted to be together… hadn't they? Raiden had _wanted_ to kiss her… hadn't he?

Or had he wanted to avoid hurting her feelings?

No, that didn't make any sense either. Raiden wouldn't do something like that. He wouldn't go out with her just to make sure he didn't hurt her feelings.

… Would he?

Tenten vigorously shook her head. It wouldn't do to go into this with so many doubts in her head. She had to approach this with a clear mind, so that she didn't misinterpret something because she was expecting him to tell her he'd never wanted her.

… But what if she'd _been_ misinterpreting him to begin with?

She found herself growing increasingly depressed, and increasingly angry in an attempt to counter it. If he didn't want to be with her, then why didn't he just _fucking_ say so! He didn't need to shelter her feelings like she was a _goddamned_ child!

The Hatake household came into sight. Scowling, she was about to rush to the door, wanting her answers _now_, when one of the windows on the top floor opened, and out hopped Raiden, coat and shoes barely making a sound as he landed. He glanced back at the house, and then he suddenly took to the rooftops, and…

… And what was with that huge book he had been cradling in one of his arms?

Tenten followed him as silently as she could.

* * *

The little bell he'd rigged to the door jingled as someone entered the building. _About damn time,_ Malak thought as he turned another page in his beaten, paper-back book.

Raiden grunted as he dropped a large, black, leather-bound book on the desk Malak was casually using as a footrest. The impact shook even the bookcases that dominated the rest of the room. "By your very random appearance at the training grounds today, I assume you have something else for me," Raiden stated.

"Hey," Malak responded without turning his eyes from his novel, "Does everything I do have to have some kind of underlying motive? Perhaps I don't have anything for you at all. Perhaps I never had anything for you to begin with… But if I had acquired something of interest to you, it would probably be on the third shelf of the bookcase to your right."

Malak watched out of the corner of his eye as Raiden began searching that shelf, then added, "You might want to check between Pride and Prejudice and Dead Beat: A Novel of the Dresden Files; usually an interesting book or two hiding between those ones."

Raiden easily found the book with those instructions, and then he flipped through the first few pages, his expression both pensive and troubled.

"Still having a little trouble wrapping your head around the whole thing?" Malak asked, closing his novel.

A small frown touched Raiden's lips as he answered, "Maybe just a little."

Malak nodded, saying, "I can only imagine, my good man. Just don't forget that you're still you. This doesn't have anything to do with personality."

It was Raiden's turn to nod. Then after a moment of silence he said, "I'm learning to control it." He faced Malak, "The… I guess _my_… Harmonic Resonance."

"And how has your progress been?" asked the desert-eyed eccentric, now very curious.

Raiden shrugged. "Slow," he responded. "I've had enough trouble learning to control its activation. It's gotten a lot easier, but I had to take a second to repress it during a match today, and it cost me an advantage. But, I can use it for about thirty minutes before I start getting any headaches, which is an improvement. And I've learned to… distinguish things." He gave Malak a steady look that said more than any words.

It was then that Malak realized Raiden's amethyst eyes were… glowing. It was very slight, and barely noticeable in the well-lit room, but it was there. _Interesting… So he _has_ learned to control it, _Malak thought.

Malak bowed his head, hiding his amused grin. "Think what you will of me, Raiden Hatake. But I am quite sincere in my desire to assist you."

"Why?" Raiden asked, simply.

Lifting his eyes to meet Raiden's, Malak stated, "Some people crave attention. Some desire a… release, in one form or another. I've heard that there are some girls, maybe even guys, who just want to have fun. I am not without my own vice; I crave knowledge. I have never met one like you, and, quite frankly, I find you interesting." The eccentric man leaned back in his chair, putting his feet back on his desk, and added, "But even more than that, you are Naruto's friend. I am Naruto's friend. I hope that perhaps you and I will come to consider each other as such."

Raiden stared at Malak a moment longer then smiled a little, saying, "Good enough for me." Then, waving to the golden-eyed man with the new, black book, Raiden left the shop.

Malak found himself grinning as the amethyst-eyed ninja made his departure. That boy was _perceptive_! He'd very likely sensed something wrong with Malak the moment he'd met him (quite a few people did, though probably for slightly different reasons). So he'd come to this next little meeting prepared, already utilizing his Resonance like a pro! It would certainly be _very_ interesting to work with Raiden in the future.

Desert-colored eyes glanced out the left window as a shadow passed by it. A shadow he recognized.

Malak sighed. _Of course, if I'm going to work with him, he's going to have to survive the next five minutes…_

* * *

_I never thought I could consider the night to be any more beautiful than I already did,_ Raiden found himself thinking as he walked back home. His Resonance had still been active when he'd left Malak's place, and ever since he'd glimpsed the night sky in Harmony, Raiden had found himself mesmerized. So instead of flying through the rooftops, as he'd originally planned, he came to the conclusion that walking was a much better idea.

The stars glowed above him with there usual luminescence while they hummed with power; he found that although it was only supposed to be a half-moon tonight, he could see the whole thing in vivid detail, and it too seemed to pulse with music; and even the black sky itself seemed to emit its own light, its own color, its own sound, in the spectrum of Harmony.

It was breathtaking for him to behold. At first, Raiden had been somewhat frightened of his powers… mostly of what they had implied.

_No,_ he scolded himself, _Not _implied._ What they _meant.

Raiden shook his head, trying to sort his thoughts. Four months since he'd learned what he was, yet it all still seemed so… sudden. So… strange to him. Never in his life—

"Hey, Raiden," he heard a rather familiar voice say behind him, "What are you doing out so late at night?"

Turning to look at Tenten (and reining in his Resonance), he immediately noticed her completely blank expression. That scared him more than anything ever had in his life. He expertly kept himself from gulping.

"I was… walking…" he stated.

Tenten looked at the large book he was still carrying. "With a book from that creep, Malak's, place. And one somewhat different from your usual porn."

Her tone was incisive, despite its apparent neutrality. Raiden's heart sped up. She was beyond pissed, and he thought he knew why.

"Ten… Look, I know I haven't really been myself lately"—

"Lately?!" she yelled. "Try 'the past four months'!" Her voice lost its biting quality as she said, "Almost the entire time we've been dating."

Raiden stared at her for a moment, uncomprehending. Why was the length of their relationship relevant to…?

Blinking away his shock as he finally got it, he said, his tone as sincere as he knew how to make it, "Tenten, wait a minute. You don't think… you don't think that _you're_ the problem, do you?"

She hugged herself. "Why shouldn't I, when… when…" tears formed in her eyes, and Tenten looked away, trying to keep them falling.

There was a loud 'thump' and then Raiden's arms wrapped her in a gentle embrace. When Tenten felt him there, she found herself unable to hold back. Tears flowed freely from her eyes, but she refused to sob. Tenten looked Raiden right in the eyes as she asked, quietly, "_Is_ it me, Raiden?"

His hands lightly caressing her face, gently brushing away her tears, Raiden responded in a voice that matched his hands, "Of course not, Ten-chan. In fact, if it weren't for you, I don't know if I would've been able to stay sane this whole time. This… problem of mine… it's something only I can handle. I didn't… I didn't want to worry you." He chuckled sadly, "Guess I didn't do a very good job, huh?"

At his words, Tenten found some of her usual attitude regaining its rightful dominance, because she said, "You certainly haven't." She brought her own hands to Raiden's face, cupping it gently, saying, "If I've really been helping you all this time, please, _please_, let me help more. Tell me what's wrong. I can help you figure it out. And if it turns out I can't... well, at least I won't have to wonder anymore."

Silence reigned for a full minute before he whispered, "I don't know if you'll believe me."

Tenten blinked. _That_ certainly hadn't been what she'd expected. But that didn't stop her from saying, "Of course I'll believe you, Raiden." A flash of mischievousness crossed her eyes when she added, "As long as you don't lie."

Raiden nodded, and stepped away from her. He looked around for a moment, then walked over to pick up the book he'd dropped.

He considered the book for a moment, and Tenten noted the golden, flowing letters of a title she couldn't make out. Then, completely serious, Raiden turned to Tenten, looked her right in the eyes and asked her, "What do you know of angels?"

* * *

The hunter gazed upon his prey from the cover of the trees.

A grand total of three mephistos floated above the lake, gliding silently through the air, their yellow eyes gazing almost longingly at the water. Their cloaks of shadow rustled about them without sound, hiding their true, insectoid forms, and blending them almost seamlessly with the night.

_Why do I always have to get the gross ones?_ Naruto asked himself. Both he and Dante had sensed the arrival of the demonic entities, but Dante trusted his son enough to let him investigate and exterminate on his own. Of course, if Naruto had known he'd have to face more demonic insects, he'd have let his dad handle the whole thing.

He sighed to himself. _Nothing to be done about it now…_ Naruto drew Dawn and Dusk from their sheaths, slightly wishing he could just bring out Force Edge and be done with it.

That was the funny thing about those mephistos: the cloaks of shadow not only hid their true, less-than-impressive form, but they also acted as shields. The shadows were capable of absorbing a certain number of hits (Naruto had never bothered to count) before being destroyed. It wasn't _that_ many hits, probably somewhere in the thirty-to-forty range, but that was tough to do in melee, even when only facing one at a time. He'd found that a strong enough blast from light-element magic (or a weapon such as Beowulf) could tear apart their cloaks in a single hit, but that was tough to manage, considering the mephistos would sense the strike coming and instinctively move to dodge it.

Much easier to do it the usual way.

A hail of small bullets of chakra swiftly tore the closest mephisto's cloak to scraps of dissolving shadow. As the last shred of cloak was gone, the centipede-like body of the mephisto burst into green goop and gas, having been riddled with holes after its only line of defense had been taken.

The other two demons, on either side of the lake, took notice, of course, and each lifted a red claw from under their cloaks and loosed a straight, yellow-glowing beam at the area the gunfire had erupted from.

They both missed.

Chakra-bullets shredded half the cloak of the mephisto on the lake's right side before it realized that it should probably move. A third of the shadows were left by the time it finally did.

Luckily, its companion came to its aid, the shadows spinning around the third mephisto in a spiraling saw as it sped towards the enemy's position; it tore the trees apart.

Unluckily, the enemy had already appeared behind the second mephisto, accompanied by a bright flash of light. The demon turned towards its prey—

"**Zodiac**!" Naruto shouted, throwing a large sphere of pure light at the mephisto. The last of the demon's precious cloak dissolved, and it was horribly scorched from the blast's excess energy.

Then Naruto yelled, "**Straight**!" His Beowulf-gauntleted fist slammed into the mephisto's frail body; the mephisto broke into green gas.

_Then there was one…_

Naruto leapt aside as the third mephisto charged in with its spiked tail, attempting to skewer the young demon-hunter.

The Beowulf gauntlets and greaves covering his forearms and calves, Naruto assumed a fighting stance, charging the weapon's power in preparation for another strike.

The mephisto, sensing the buildup of energy, hovered nervously in the air before the crimson-eyed warrior, ready to move at a moment's notice.

But instead of loosing another blast of light, Naruto's hand blurred to his holster, and he shot the demon as many times as he could before it moved.

Following the creature in the air, he kept on the pressure, until, finally, the last shadow fell away, and the mephisto fell with it.

Then Naruto thrust his foot at a point the demon would descend into, and shouted, "**Zodiac**!" loosing all the energy he'd already charged.

The blast easily disintegrated the pesky demon.

Naruto looked around for a moment, then sighed, thinking, _Of course it'd be _here_, wouldn't it? Damned, stupid lake…_ Honestly, it was getting kind of difficult to be intrigued by the mystery when all it apparently did was draw demons to it. And not even any powerful ones!

Still shaking his head, he dismissed Beowulf in a flash of light and holstered Dawn with a twirl.

Then, assessing that he should probably get to bed if he wanted to get up anytime before eight tomorrow, the crimson-eyed warrior headed back home.

* * *

She sat beside Raiden against a building near Malak's 'office', still trying to absorb everything he'd told her.

"So, you're an angel…" Tenten said, shaking her head at the words.

Raiden snorted. "Aw, you're so sweet. But, no, not exactly. I'm _half_-angel. That's what Malak tells me, at least."

His girlfriend was silent for a moment. "And you trust him?" she asked.

"Yeah," he responded. He blinked in mild surprise at himself; he hadn't hesitated a bit when he'd said that.

"Fair enough… Where was I? Oh right… And angels," Tenten said, talking herself through it all again, hoping to finally wrap her head around it, "Come from a different world. Er… realm. And all the elite ones—the 'archangels'—uh… embody the elements. Have I got it right so far?' At Raiden's nod, she continued, "And you're really good with lightning-element techniques. _Really _good. So Malak thinks one of your parents was an archangel of lightning."

"Because being the son of a random, regular angel would have made life too boring," Raiden quipped while he nodded at Tenten's description of the facts he'd given her.

Tenten smiled a little at Raiden's attempt to lighten up the mood. She took a moment to look at him, sitting there staring at the ground. Then she asked, "And?"

A heavy sigh answered her question first, then Raiden said in a quiet voice, "I know. This shouldn't upset me this much. This doesn't change who I am. I'm Raiden Hatake and I always will be."

Tenten wrapped her arms around him, asking in a gentle voice, "So why _does_ it upset you?"

Staring at his hands, Raiden answered, "Because angels are… by all accounts… _better_ than humans. Stronger, faster, more agile…" He closed his eyes. "I've always hated people who lord their family history, their bloodline, over everybody else. I've always thought that I'm as skilled as I am because, dammit, I worked my ass off for it! My abilities weren't being augmented! It was all me, all training! But… I've always been half-angel. I didn't just suddenly gain a few new strands in my DNA. What if… I've been lying to myself this whole time? What if… I don't know…" Raiden shook his head, lacking the words to explain.

So Tenten did it for him, "You're afraid of being a hypocrite. You don't want to have been righteous and holier-than-thou towards all the snobs who think they're lineage makes them better than everyone else when, in fact, _your_ lineage makes you better than everyone else."

"… How do you do that?" Raiden asked his girlfriend in astonishment.

Tenten just smiled innocently at him and inquired, "Do what?"

Raiden chuckled, finally reaching around and pulling Tenten closer to him. They sat there in silence for a full minute before Raiden decided to make sure of something. "So… you don't care that I'm… not entirely human?"

A gentle hand caressed his cheek in response, turning his face to meet Tenten's kiss. When they finally broke the contact, she softly told him, "Of course not, Raiden."

Neither of them said anything more; nothing else needed to be said.

* * *

Now that his business with Raiden had finally concluded, Malak decided to attend to the next item on his to-do list.

He had to stop when he came upon the lake; there was something different in the air. After a moment, the desert-eyed man deduced that a battle had just recently taken place. Stretching his senses out a little bit, Malak felt a little bit of residual light-element energy, and he thought, _Ah, that would be Beowulf, then. It seems Naruto came out hunting tonight… So that was the disturbance I felt earlier…_

Malak had thought he'd felt demons entering the mortal realm an hour ago, but he'd decided that Dante or Naruto would take care of it. Besides, he'd had more important things to do.

Like get ready for tonight.

As the eccentric man brought out a little, tied bag, he considered that he probably owed Naruto an apology for his lie; Malak had told the crimson-eyed warrior:_ Whatever's down there obviously wants to be left alone. Best to give it what it wants._

Malak, however, had quite different plans.

Out of the bag, the desert-eyed man brought out a piece of opal. Clenching his fist around it, he intoned in a strange tongue, "Suscitatio ut meus carmen." (A/N: The free online translator I used says this is Latin for 'Awaken to my song'. But, those things can sometimes be unreliable, so if anyone here actually knows Latin, and knows this is wrong, I would certainly appreciate a correction.)

Then Malak tossed the now-glowing piece of opal into the air above the lake, where it hovered and began to produce a melodic sound that continued to chime with a pleasant rhythm.

A soft glow began to emanate from the lake's bed, and Malak smiled. _This shall be quite an interesting meeting…_

The water seemed to bulge for a moment, and then the lake erupted, four different colored glows permeating the tower of lake-water. The water settled back into the lake abruptly, revealing the four forms Malak had awakened.

His smile transformed into a smirking grin as he thought, _Let us see if I survive it_.

* * *

"Gah! Where _is_ he?" Naruto angrily asked the clearing of Training Ground Seven the next morning.

Hananoki just smiled knowingly and said, "Calm down, Naruto. He'll get here eventually." She got a deadpan look from the crimson-eyed warrior in response. Then Naruto sighed and, walking over to her, took a seat next to the young girl.

Sitting on the other side of Hananoki with crossed-legs and hands on his knees in a meditative posture, Gisei decided to add his two-cents, "I find that I must agree with Naruto's sentiment; our sensei's tardiness is rather disagreeable."

"Disagreeable… guess that's _one_ word for it…" Naruto muttered.

Before Hananoki could try to placate her friend, Kakashi suddenly 'poofed' into existence in the middle of the training grounds. He turned to look at the three, would-be-Genin and raised his hand in greeting, saying, "Yo."

Naruto just glared for a moment before accusing, "You're late."

A hand now scratching the back of his neck, Kakashi responded with, "Well, you see, this black cat crossed my path, and I had to take the long way around."

The boys both did their best face-plants from a sitting position while Hananoki just shook her head.

Ignoring the effects his poor excuse had on his would-be students, Kakashi proceeded to bring out two tiny, silver bells.

"These," the one-eyed Jonin explained, "are bells." He ignored the three deadpan looks and continued, "Each of you must obtain a bell by the time this timer," Kakashi brought said timer from his pocket, "runs out. Got it?"

Naruto lifted an eyebrow, then a hand. Kakashi looked at him and, eye-smiling, said, "Yes, Naruto?"

"Normally," the crimson-eyed warrior began, "I don't like to state the obvious, but… there are only two bells. So, I take it one of us will not be graduating?"

Nodding, Kakashi answered, "That's correct, Naruto."

"Well, guess I'm out then," Naruto said cheerily. Turning to Hananoki and Gisei, he told them, "Have fun with the whole 'Genin' thing guys."

He had barely started walking away before Gisei put a hand on his shoulder, and said, "Naruto, do not do this to yourself. You have come all the way from the West to train as a ninja, while I have been learning the trade for most of my life. If anyone should walk away from this, it should be me. What is one more year to me?"

A pair of hands came between them and pushed them apart, allowing Hananoki to step up and say her piece, "Come on guys, you can't expect me to just sit here and let you guys try to decide which of leaves, can you? I say, if one of us has to leave, we _all_ leave." Hananoki turned to face Kakashi and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

The boys stood for a moment, apparently digesting what she had said, then suddenly Naruto stepped forward, saying, "You're right, Hana. Hell, what kind of teammate would I be if I abandoned my team even before we officially became one?" Naruto took a stand next to his friend.

Gisei, after another moment, silently did the same thing.

Kakashi just stood there for a moment, looking to the entire world like a statue… and then, for one of the only times since he'd become a Jonin, he laughed.

The three students stared, stupefied, for the full minute it took for the one-eyed Jonin to calm himself down.

Shaking his head, Kakashi put the bells and the timer back into their respective pockets. Then he spread his hands out wide and stated, "You all pass."

Naruto and Hananoki both jumped into the air, shouting, "YES!!!" Gisei grinned from ear to ear, sharing in their joy, if not their enthusiasm.

Team Seven's plan had worked perfectly.

* * *

As she followed her new sensei into the infamous Forest of Death, Hinata couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated; the trees were all darker than they should have been, and each twisted in a different way, wrapping around each other with an increasingly eerie effect.

However, it did help her to know that Raiden was beside her. The amethyst-eyed ninja seemed to be in a better mood than he had been for awhile, and Hinata found the fact rather comforting. She even felt a little better with Sasuke there as well; the last Uchiha had proven willing to work with her and Raiden, after his and Raiden's spar the day before. Hinata also sensed that something had passed between the two young men yesterday, as well; it didn't escape her notice that Sasuke was actually walking _with_ her and Raiden, instead of behind them.

"Hm… I guess this will do," Anko said, suddenly stopping. She turned to her charges with a mischievous smirk, telling them, "Your last test before you all become Genin is a pretty simple one: The three of you have to defeat me in battle."

The members of Team Nine each looked at each other. Then Raiden, his easy smile causing Anko to quirk an eyebrow, responded with a shrug and, "Alright."

And Anko suddenly had to deal with the aggressive charge of Hinata Hyuuga.

* * *

Ino quirked her eyebrow as she asked her new sensei, "That's all we have to do?"

Spreading his hands out, Asuma answered, "Yep. That's pretty much it. And you all have until noon today to accomplish this. Good luck." Then he 'poofed' out of existence.

The young blonde looked to her two teammates; Choji looked like he was pretty excited, while Shikamaru, of course, just looked tired and bored. Shikamaru did, however, chime in with, "Well, I suppose we know who will be doing the actual capturing." He began to stroll forward, Choji and Ino following along.

Ino asked, "I assume you have a plan, Shikamaru?"

In response, Choji snorted and said, "Are you kidding? Shika's _always_ got a plan."

Shikamaru didn't think that he _always_ had a plan. But in this case…

* * *

Leaning against a tree at the edge of the clearing he'd chosen, a recently-lit cigarette in his mouth, Asuma considered how long he'd have to wait for his team to find him. _I doubt it will take-_

"**Human Bullet Tank**!"

Asuma immediately leapt from his spot, barely avoiding the enlarged, spinning form of Choji that came crashing through the woods. He turned to face the young Akimichi, but was forced to leap aside yet again as he heard a feminine battle cry off to his right, and the earth he had been occupying suffered a dozen cuts.

Ino came down in that same spot and she immediately rushed Asuma with both of her steel fans drawn. Asuma brought his trench knives to bear in response, but despite his preparedness, he found himself driven back by Ino's charge. Her fans sharpened with her wind chakra (just as he'd taught her, he noted proudly) Ino battled Asuma's large swings and swipes with precise flicks and rolls of her wrists.

"**Multi-Size**!" yelled a voice from above.

Looking up, Asuma saw Choji up in the air, falling towards Asuma and Ino as the young Akimichi yelled, yet again, "**Human Bullet Tank**!"

Ino jumped backwards; Asuma did the same thing. Choji fell to the earth with a resounding crash. When the dust cleared, Asuma watched Ino help a regular-sized Choji back to his feet. The two of them then looked at their sensei, and smirked.

Asuma quirked an eyebrow, then had a sudden revelation. _Where's Shikamaru?!_ His limbs abruptly locked up on him, and Asuma finally noticed that he was in the middle of a particularly clumped cluster of trees, with shadows prominent in the small area.

"Checkmate, Sensei," Shikamaru said from right behind Asuma.

The new sensei just smiled; Team Ten had passed their test with flying colors.

* * *

Anko dipped, ducked, and dodged Hinata's lashing strikes to the best of her ability, but the shy Hyuuga had caught the Jonin off guard, and had managed to nick Anko a few times.

And, of course, just as Anko was beginning to recover her balance, and actually retaliate against the young girl, Hinata suddenly leapt off to the side. Before Anko could turn to follow, she heard a voice from above cry out, "**Fire Release: Great Fireball**!"

Looking up in time to see the large fireball come speeding towards her, Anko jumped up and back, barely avoiding the impact and resulting explosion…

But not avoiding whatever the hell suddenly wrapped around her ankle while she was still up in the air. Before she could discern what it was, Anko was forcefully yanked back down to the earth, where she crashed painfully into the ground.

As she lay there dazed, Anko felt a kunai press against her throat. She looked up to see that it was Sasuke who held the blade on her, while Hinata had placed a palm over Anko's heart, ready to lash out with her Gentle Fist technique. And then she saw Raiden standing a couple feet back, a long length of chain extending from his sleeve down to her ankle.

Anko smirked at the three of them, and said, "Congratulations, kids. I think I'll pass you all for this. But, just so you don't get too cocky…" She pressed her throat against Sasuke's kunai, and abruptly burst into smoke.

Hinata and Sasuke both jumped back, but were then suddenly assaulted by a pack of snakes that immediately bound the two of them before they could retaliate.

They looked to Raiden, and saw him standing as still as a statue, Anko behind him with a kunai to his throat.

Wearing the smirk her shadow clone had been wearing, the sensei of Team Nine informed her squad, "You've all still got plenty to learn."

* * *

Malak sat on his bed without his shirt on, tending the wounds he'd received the night before. His pale, sculpted body had acquired a couple of large burns to accentuate the puncture and claw marks he'd also been inflicted with.

As he applied medicine and bandages to himself (he'd never let a doctor touch him… not after that last time…) Malak considered that all-in-all, the meeting had gone very well.

He had managed to set things in motion. Now, he'd just have to wait to see the results.

Malak smirked. Waiting was always the hardest part, wasn't it? But he'd just have to deal with that.

It was all out of his hands now.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** The teams have been set! The Genin Exams have taken place! Our heroes have passed! (Big surprise, huh?) Now things get interesting; I get to send them out on missions! And yes, I will be doing a Wave arc; a very altered Wave arc. But that won't be until the next chapter, so, for now, I ask that you all R&R, as per the usual.


	8. Chapter 7

**Author's Notes:** Before we begin, I'd like to say a couple of things. First of all, because they are all ninjas now, they all got headbands, which I kind of forgot to address last chapter. I know it's lazy, but honestly I can't picture any of my main characters wearing their headband anyway other than their foreheads… You know, where they belong. Assume that all other characters have them placed just as in canon.

And I would like to point out to all the die-hard DMC fans who actually read about the in-game enemies and everything: I've kind of messed with the classifications of some of them. Like, if the game says this-demon-over-here is an 'elite-class' demon, honestly, it's probably not an 'elite' in this story. After all, 'elite' is supposed to be 'top-tier' not 'regular enemy that can be beaten relatively easily', like it seems to in-game. Therefore, most of the demons I'll be taking from the series are 'low', 'mid', or 'high' level/class, which is why they're the foot soldiers, and not the big baddies. Well, now that's out of the way, so... Let's begin, shall we?

_**

* * *

**_

_**Chapter 7: Demons and Spirits**_

Over the next three weeks, the new Genin teams learned far too much about the bane of a ninja's existence: D-Class missions. Also known as: "manual labor" or, more commonly, "_menial_ labor".

For three whole weeks, all they did was paint fences, do the shopping for some of the village seniors who had trouble doing it themselves, and chase down a black cat named Tori that seemed quite unhappy with its current owner. They were nice things to do for people (not for the cat), that was for sure, but… come on. They were _ninjas_ for crying out loud.

The senseis of Teams Seven, Nine, and Ten finally brought the complaints of their charges to the attention of the Hokage (after having to listen to them for three freaking weeks), and he agreed that each team would receive an appropriate C-Rank mission when one was made available. (When asked, Kurenai, the leader of Team Eight, admitted that her Genin _barely_passed her exam, and were _definitely_ not ready for a mission that could actually be dangerous.)

_Finally_, the tired senseis thought, _Maybe now I'll get a little bit of peace_…

It could happen… right?

* * *

As Malak climbed up the ladder that separated his sleep-and-work area from the rest of his office… er, 'shop'… the bell above the building's entrance jingled, alerting the eccentric man to the fact that someone had decided to infringe on what he had planned on being his reading time. And he had just gotten the new Dresden Files novel…

_The nerve of some people…_ Malak considered as he pushed away the trapdoor above him and entered the 'shop' proper. When he saw who had chosen to bother him, however, he decided that maybe his new book could wait.

"Hinata!" the eccentric man exclaimed in greeting. "Welcome to my humble abode once again! Please, please, have a seat right in front of that desk there, and I shall be right with you!"

After she had passed her Genin exams, Hinata had come by his shop to discuss his interest in the Byakugan, and his encounter with a similar technique (a technique that had been used by a demon, in fact… but he decided not to mention that part). They had ended up talking for three whole hours, and not all of it had been business. Malak had, at some point, begun regaling the shy Hyuuga with stories of his adventures; the eccentric man had quite a few of them. Hinata had been captivated by the stories and by the way Malak had told them. She had asked lots of good questions about the places and people he mentioned, and the desert-eyed man discovered that he truly enjoyed telling Hinata his stories. After they had spent more time than they should have with their discussion, Malak had suggested that they try to meet more often. Hinata had readily agreed.

So the young Hyuuga wasn't very surprised when she saw Malak climbing out of the floor. However, she did smile at him with a bright blush and ask, "Um… I'm not interrupting something, am I?"

"Of course not! Why would you think something like that?" Malak asked in response. Then he noticed that it seemed to be a little breezier than usual in his shop. He looked down at himself and realized that he had forgotten to put a shirt on. Malak 'tsked', thinking, _I really need to stop doing that…_

Then Malak realized that Hinata was a young, teenage girl, that he had always prided himself on his ability to keep his physique in check, and that perhaps that had something to do with why Hinata was blushing so profusely.

"Perhaps I should clothe myself before we begin our discussion," the golden-eyed man stated. Then he jumped back through the trapdoor, apparently going to do just that.

Hinata decided that it was a good thing Malak had gone to put a shirt on without waiting for the shy Hyuuga to reply; her response might have made things even more awkward. _He has _really_ nice abs…_

She considered that line of thought a moment longer, then came to the conclusion that she should never have asked Raiden why he was always reading one of those little orange books. He'd merely pulled an extra out of one of his pockets and handed it to Hinata in response. She had, inevitably, begun reading it.

It had all gone downhill from there.

As she stood there in the middle of Malak's store (apparently a _book_store, considering how _many _of them there were), Hinata found herself considering what it might be like to see Naruto shirtless, and swiftly squashed the image before it could surface. The last thing Hinata wanted was for Malak to come back up and find that she had fainted from all the blood rushing to her face…

A sudden chill hit her like a wave. Hinata turned to her right on an instinct and for a terrifying instant she could have sworn she had seen a pair of glacial-blue eyes just floating in-between herself and one of the bookshelves. She slipped straight into a fighting stance, but the eyes had disappeared as soon as she'd taken an instant to blink.

She twirled around and examined her surroundings, but there was nothing. Even the chill she'd felt was gone.

Hinata shivered out of her stance, taking deep breaths to calm herself. Whatever had just been in the room with her was gone now. Maybe Malak could—

As if summoned, the eccentric man pulled himself out of the trapdoor to the basement, now clad in a T-shirt that had the words 'Iron Maiden' printed on it, and what looked to be an angry zombie on the front. Hinata stared at the shirt for almost half a minute before she claimed, "I don't get it."

Malak just smiled and responded, "And for that, I pity you greatly, because you obviously have not yet _begun_ to live. So, I'm curious; don't you and your team have to meet every morning?"

"Anko-sensei got sent on an A-Class mission yesterday afternoon. She probably won't be back for a few days," Hinata answered, "I've gotten into the habit of waking up early, and, unlike the boys, apparently, I don't want to break the habit. But I needed something to occupy my time…"

"So naturally," Malak said with a sly grin on his face, "you elected to come and spend the time with your most entertaining—and most handsome—option." While Hinata was chuckling at his joking arrogance, the golden-eyed man set himself in the chair behind his desk, and Hinata noticed (not for the fist time) that when he sat down, he looked for all the world like the classic movie villain sitting in his lair; calm, composed, and confident that he could handle _anything_ that_ anybody_ threw at him.

For a moment, she considered telling him about the strange phenomenon that had just occurred. But Hinata decided that if Malak didn't feel anything wrong (and Naruto had once told her that Malak's senses easily trumped _any_ that a ninja possessed) then she obviously had nothing to worry about. She decided that she would tell him about it later, after he told his next story.

And then Malak began to tell her about when he had accidently stepped on the toes of a northern nation's queen, and the madness that had inevitably ensued, and Hinata completely forgot about the strange pair of eyes.

* * *

Hananoki was, as usual, the second one to arrive at the bridge that Team Seven used as a meeting spot every day. For three weeks, it had always worked the same way: Hananoki would show up to find Gisei meditating, would stand quietly staring at the river for eleven-to-twelve minutes, Naruto would arrive and greet the other two (despite the fact that Gisei never responded), they would all wait for at least another twenty minutes, and finally Kakashi would decide to show up and take the team on yet another D-Rank mission.

Quite honestly, she was sick of it.

It had been the exact same routine for _way_ too long in her books; at least when she was training, she could try to mix it up a little. Instead, she was going on these boring chores for the villagers, and, while Hananoki never shirked from helping her community, she had become a _ninja_ to be a _ninja_; not an errand-girl. She swore then and there that if she had to go on one more D-Rank mission, she was going to lose her mind.

"I swear, if I have to go on one more fucking D-Rank mission, I'm going to lose my mind!" Naruto exclaimed, in lieu of his usual greeting, five minutes later.

_Huh… he's earlier than usual,_ Hananoki noticed, before she looked at the crimson-eyed warrior with a tired smile and said, "Join the club, Naruto."

"Indeed," Gisei chimed in.

The other two stared at him in shock for a moment, waiting to see if he'd actually join them in conversation, but apparently the quiet boy felt he had said more than enough, for he added nothing else.

Naruto let out an exasperated sigh and rested an elbow against the railing next to Hananoki, so that he could hold his head up with his palm while he gazed into the river below.

Staring at the young blonde for a moment, Hananoki found herself thinking about how handsome Naruto was… again.

She had always considered Naruto to be good-looking, of course (she couldn't imagine a girl who wouldn't), but over the past few months, after spending more and more time with the crimson-eyed warrior, Hananoki's opinion had gradually changed. She found that he seemed to magically become more attractive each day. Hananoki kept noticing subtle features about how he looked, or how he moved, or how he spoke that was especially intriguing to her.

Just a few weeks ago she had realized, for the first time, that there seemed to be a kind of animalistic grace to nearly every move he made. Whether he was fighting, merely walking, or even when he was eating (she had been rather embarrassed when she caught herself staring at Naruto while he ate), there was a subtle addition to the movement, something… just _more_ to it.

And she couldn't deny that she found it _very_ sexy.

Of course, there were other things about Naruto that Hananoki found especially attractive, besides his looks (although they certainly helped). His kindness and compassion, his strong sense of honor, his courage, and even just his directness in a conversation all appealed to the young girl.

Perhaps it was time to admit it to herself… _I have a crush on Naruto,_ she affirmed to herself.

Before Hananoki could consider where that particular realization might lead, a 'poof' behind her alerted her to the arrival of their sensei.

She looked at the sky above her, expecting to find that the sun had moved to nine-o'-clock position while her mind had wondered, and instead discovered that the sun had barely moved at all. And she froze in place.

Kakashi Hatake was _on time_.

"Oh no…" Hananoki groaned, "Why does the world have to end while I'm still alive? And I haven't even gotten to…" she carefully stopped herself from saying _see Naruto without a shirt on_ and instead went with, "… go on an actual mission."

"Ha-ha," Kakashi intoned as the three Genin all gave him their undivided attention, "It is to laugh. You'll be glad to know that the world, in fact, is not going to end today… Not to my knowledge, at any rate… And I think you'll all be even happier to know that today, we aren't going on a D-Rank mission." As he walked off the bridge with the shocked stares of three young Genin at his back, he told them, "Come on, gang. Today, Team Seven begins their very first C-Rank mission."

* * *

"… And, for some reason, I've never returned to that particular country," Malak said almost an hour after he had began, finishing his story with a pensive tapping of his chin, while Hinata finished her fit of laughter with a few deep breaths to calm her now-quivering stomach.

"You…" Hinata took another breath to calm the rising chuckles, "You mean that you escaped this country's _greatest_ assassin because he"—

Malak, suddenly serious, raised a hand to silence her. His golden eyes began scanning the store for something, and Hinata realized that he must have sensed something. _Could it be what I saw earlier?_

While Hinata was considering what it could be that Malak sensed, the eccentric man himself was finishing figuring it out. Once he discovered the source of the energy, he had to fight to keep a straight face. It wouldn't do to have the young Hyuuga suspect something.

Not yet, at any rate.

Malak blinked a couple of times, then shook his head, muttering, "That was weird…"

"What was weird?" Hinata asked a little nervously.

Quickly forming a reasonable (by his standards) way of avoiding answering with the truth, he said, "I thought I just heard something downstairs… Let me check." He went down through his trap door, and it was only about thirty seconds before an explosion rocked the shop.

"Malak?!" Hinata yelled, rushing to the trap door. After a moment, she heard some coughing and muttering, and then Malak began to emerge… with his face and torso blackened by what seemed to be ash.

Before she could say anything, Malak, brushing some of the ash off, told her, "It seems I heard one of my running experiments begin a reaction… Not the reaction I had been hoping for, but I think I'm on the right track…"

Hinata blinked at that, and asked with a quirked eyebrow, "And what kind of 'reaction' had you been hoping for?"

"Well," he replied, pulling a handkerchief from a back pocket in his pants, "I've been trying to create a potion that will cure the common cold."

Blinking yet again, the young Hyuuga girl said, "Um… I don't think 'explosion' and 'cure' are usually closely related… Or related at all. In fact, I'd have thought that an 'explosion' and a 'cure' were counterproductive to one another."

"I think that would depend upon what one was trying to 'cure', but I can understand your skepticism. I just need… hmm…" Malak finished wiping off his face, and said to Hinata, "I'd hate to ask you this so soon, but do you mind if we end our time together now? I must figure out where I went wrong."

Hinata nodded, slightly disappointed, but also slightly relieved that she wouldn't be around for any more of his attempts at a 'cure'.

_Hmm… A cure for the common cold… Not a bad idea, now that I think about it…_ Malak considered as the shy Hyuuga walked out the door. Perhaps he would actually begin work on something like that in the near future.

But for now, the desert-eyed man just smiled, pleased that he was already seeing his plan bear fruit.

* * *

Kakashi had finally finished sealing his provisions into his storage-scroll when someone behind him said, "Hokage sending Team Seven on an actual mission, or is it just you?"

Turning to look at Raiden, who was standing in the doorway wearing nothing but his black boxers and sleepy eyes, Kakashi said, "It's the whole team today. We're supposed to escort some bridge builder back to Wave Country because he's afraid of bandits and such." He hooked the storage-scroll to his uniform, then added, "Far be it from me to presume, but I think that the Hokage will be sending you and the rest of Team Nine on a C-Rank mission yourselves, whenever Anko gets back from her assignment."

"Heh, you guys finally go to the Hokage on our behalves? 'Bout time," Raiden said, stretching out some of the kinks in his muscles. "Say…" he continued, as he finally began to shake off the effects of awakening from a good sleep, "When did you guys actually go to the Hokage about our complaints?"

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow, and replied, "About three or four days ago. Why is this relevant information?"

His question had apparently gone unheeded, because as Raiden began his trek down to the kitchen, all that the amethyst-eyed boy said was, "Dammit… How the hell does Hana do it?"

Following his younger brother, Kakashi caught on to why Raiden had been interested. "You guys had bets going, didn't you? And Hananoki won," he said.

"Again," Raiden said, somewhat bitterly. "I swear, that girl _never_ loses a freaking bet…"

Kakashi smiled, saying, "Ah, I take it you're remembering that incident with"—

"Don't you dare say it," Raiden growled. His older brother raised his hands in deference.

"Anyway," Kakashi said, "I need to be going. Can't be _too_ late for this, after all." Rustling Raiden's hair, the one-eyed Jonin told his only family, "Don't get into too much trouble. Clean up after any wild parties."

Raiden snorted, then smiled, saying, "I will. Don't forget your mask."

Kakashi blinked, then rubbed his exposed face, realizing that he had indeed forgotten to put his face mask back on. He always took it off at home, when it was just him and Raiden.

The one-eyed Jonin ran back upstairs, grabbed the clothing item, and put the article back on. After going back downstairs, Kakashi waved at his brother, who had begun making breakfast, then headed out to take his team on their first real mission.

* * *

Two days of nothing but walking and listening to Tazuna, the bridge builder, go on and on about Wave Country had convinced Naruto that D-Rank missions weren't as bad as he'd first thought. And to think, he could have been painting a fence, or—

Naruto's chakra senses, finely tuned from all of his demon-hunting, picked up on a sudden disturbance in the woods around Team Seven. Suddenly, the crimson-eyed warrior felt that the party was surrounded by ten, identical chakra signatures. And after a moment's scrutiny, Naruto found that he recognized them.

"Kakashi!" The one-eyed Jonin had already stopped and tensed, apparently having felt what Naruto had. "Assaults! Ten of them! Get ready!" Naruto shouted, drawing Force Edge while he did so.

Kakashi's eye widened when he recognized the name of the demons, and he muttered, "Shit…" He looked to see Hananoki, Gisei, and Tazuna standing around dumbfounded, wondering what the hell was going on. "Hananoki, Gisei! We're under attack! Protect Tazuna!" He eyed Hananoki a moment longer, then added, "You might want to be ready for this one."

Suddenly serious, Hananoki brought out a small scroll from her utility belt, while Gisei readied the staff he'd been walking with. Then the young girl bit her thumb and smeared some of her blood on the seal painted on the middle of the paper.

Naruto turned at the sudden 'poof' sound, his eyes widening at the sight before him; Hananoki had summoned to her hands a war hammer. Its metal handle was three feet long, wrapped with dark-green, ragged cloth, and its head was a foot wide and half a foot tall, a simple, steel rectangle that tapered off to a spike at one end, apparently there in case just crushing your enemies' skulls wasn't brutal enough. Naruto gazed at the weapon for a moment, noting out of the corner of his eye that Gisei looked just as surprised Naruto felt, and then he moved his stare to the girl wielding the weapon, who grinned sheepishly at him before getting into a fighting stance.

Despite his surprise, Naruto had to admit: Hananoki holding a war hammer, ready to bash some heads in, was… well… kind of hot. _Man,_ he thought, shaking the distraction from his head, _I've got a strange mind… I blame Dad…_

Suddenly, a lizard-like creature with green-brown skin, a long, heavy tail, four limbs that ended in claws, a strange helmet-like structure covering the top-half of its head, and two large skin flaps where its ears should be that opened up as it hissed, stalked out from the cover of the trees that it had blended in with. It looked between the five humans in front of it, finally settling on its target. It lunged at Tazuna, who screamed in fear.

A battle-cry joined the old man's cry-of-terror, and the flat end of Hananoki's war hammer smacked the demon in the face before it could reach Tazuna. The assault's skull was crushed with a sickening crunch, and the creature flew back to the edge of the forest, where it slowly dissolved into nothingness.

Hananoki's eyes were wide, her voice shaking a little when she asked, "Wha… What the h-hell was that?!"

"An assault," Naruto said calmly. When Hananoki and Gisei (who also looked slightly shaken) looked at him, he explained, "They're mid-level demons. They usually hunt in packs of ten. They're fast, vicious, and each has a small, shield-like object attached to their right arm that can block pretty much anything thrown at it. It only covers a relatively small area, but be aware of it. And before either of you ask, I'll explain how I know all of this _after_ we've taken care of the other nine."

As if on cue, the other nine assaults stalked out from the trees, surrounding the Genin team and its sensei.

"Hmm… This could be problematic," Gisei said calmly, setting his staff against his shoulder. His fingers flew through a set of hand-seals, and as he threw his hands above his head, he yelled, "**Light Release: Flash**!" A bright flash of light originated from the space above his hands, and everything that was looking in Gisei's general direction was suddenly blinded and stunned… And the only ones who'd been looking were the assaults.

"**Stinger**!" Naruto cried. He and Force Edge shot forward and rammed right into the chest of one of the blinded assaults… and then there were only eight assaults left. He looked to his left, to a demon that was recovering from the flash, and began to gather his demonic chakra into Force Edge. The demon shook its head and looked up at Naruto, who was now shouting, "**Drive**!"

A red crescent of power surged forward as the crimson-eyed warrior swung Force Edge, and it promptly cleaved the assault in half. The attack flew through the dissolving creature, heading towards another that had been in line with the first demon. However, this assault had enough together at this point that it saw the shockwave coming, and raised its shielded arm, deflecting the blast of power.

Unfortunately, the force of the attack had thrown the demon off balance, and Naruto capitalized on the opening, crying out, "**Sword Pierce**!" Force Edge suddenly shot through the air and slammed into the creature's chest, carrying it straight into the tree behind it and pinning the demon there as it dissolved.

Sensing movement behind him, Naruto shouted, "**Block**!" and in the next instant, two of the assaults rebounded off his protective sphere of crimson energy. But before he could try to counterattack, the demons had righted themselves in midair, spun in place a couple of times, and launched themselves right back at Naruto, forcing him to keep up the defensive technique. Not that he minded the fact that they were charging his gloves so much, but the move was _really_ tough to keep together for an extended period of time.

_Well… fuck,_ the crimson-eyed warrior thought. _Looks like I'll just have to take a hit, pretty soon… Here's hoping that hit doesn't tear out my throat…_

He took a moment to see how his teammates were doing in the battle. Kakashi was just then sinking a tanto into the heart of one of the assaults; Gisei was shouting, "**Light Release: Sunbeam**!" and loosing a bright, golden beam of light from the tip of his left index finger that pierced a demon's shoulder, raising a howl of pain from the creature; and Hananoki was apparently finishing off her second demon of the day by way of a brutal uppercut to the creature's chin with the spiked end of her war hammer.

The instant the two assaults struck his defensive dome again, he released the technique, fighting off the urge to sag due to the sudden relief, and dove to his right.

The first assault to launch itself at Naruto missed hitting his full body, but still tore into his left leg; the second aimed well enough to slam into the crimson-eyed warrior in the middle of his dive, taking him to the ground.

On top of him, the assault began ripping and tearing at Naruto's chest, claws shredding the young boy's shirt and chest with equal ease. Crying out in pain, Naruto focused on all of the power stored in his gloves. Then he rammed his fists as hard as he could into the demon's chest, throwing all of his pain and desperate rage into the strike, screaming, "**Royal Release**!"

The direct impact nearly liquefied every bone in the assault's chest, while the resulting shockwave merely shattered the rest of them in its body.

Glad that he was no longer being ripped open like a birthday present, but aware that he wasn't out of the woods just yet, Naruto forced himself to his feet (well, mostly his right foot) with a great grunt of effort and pain. Once more, he began to draw on his demonic chakra.

The second assault lunged at Naruto, and the crimson-eyed warrior waited until the demon was almost right on top of him to counter. Focusing power into his right fist, he called out, "**Rising Dragon**!" His demonic-energy driven, spinning uppercut crashed into the assault's jaw, the force breaking the aforementioned jaw and the rest of the skull along with it.

Unfortunately, the technique also lifted the young man up into the air, and he ended up landing on his torn leg, which, of course, instantly buckled as hit the ground, causing him yet another bout of enormous pain, and coming desperately close to knocking him out entirely.

Once his vision began to blur back together, he noticed that Hananoki and Gisei were hovering over him, and it looked like Hananoki was mouthing something to him. He couldn't understand why she wasn't just talking to him like a normal person…

"… with us! Come on, Naruto, stay with us! Please!" Hananoki suddenly shouted at him. It took Naruto a moment to realize that she'd been talking to him all along, and that he just hadn't been hearing her through the agony. The crimson-eyed warrior also noticed that her face was streaked with fresh tears, and that Gisei had a look of extreme concentration locked onto his face.

Hananoki's eyes widened when Naruto caught her gaze, and the crimson-eyed warrior's face was suddenly introduced to Hananoki's rather-ample chest as the ocean-eyed girl hugged him with a shout of, "Oh, thank goodness!"

"Can you do something about it Gisei?" asked a voice off to the side that Naruto assumed to be Kakashi.

The red-haired boy responded, "I only just started working with medical chakra a few weeks before graduation. I've practiced as much as possible since then, but I can't really handle something this... this gruesome. I think I can do enough to make sure we don't have to amputate his leg, at the very least. I'll see what I can do about the chest wound, but I've used quite a bit of chakra as it is."

"If chakra becomes an issue, I've got plenty of soldier pills," their sensei stated. "Do whatever you can to get him at least partially functional. If this attack is any indication, we're going to need him to be awake."

Hananoki decided to contribute something to the conversation, "Um… Why?"

Naruto could practically hear the shrug in Kakashi's voice as he stated, "He's the one with experience with demons. If he hadn't explained what to expect from the enemy, we'd have had to fight blind; not something a ninja should do, when a ninja has the means to make it otherwise."

There was probably more to the conversation, but Naruto missed anything after that; a new fire had engulfed his leg, and he decided not to fight the blackness when it closed in this time.

* * *

"I've never seen of anything like it," Gisei announced that night.

Hananoki's attention immediately forsook her campfire-gazing and focused entirely on her teammate as she asked, "Is he okay? There's nothing new wrong, is there?"

Kakashi glanced up from his book, first at Hananoki, then at Gisei.

Waving his hands in a placating motion, the red-haired boy said, "Not at all. Actually, he's doing better than expected… _Much_ better, as a matter of fact."

Kakashi's eyebrow quirked up as he said, "Elaborate, please."

After glancing back at the tent, Gisei began, "Ah… Well…"

Naruto strode from the aforementioned tent, his exposed torso sporting a myriad of whitened scars of varying lengths and angles, his left calve decorated with three, angry, red scars (as opposed to the nearly-healed ones on his torso), and his hand holding what remained of the shirt he'd been wearing, and also the shreds of half of his left pant leg.

Blushing profusely to see that Naruto didn't have a shirt, but too relieved and happy to give a damn, Hananoki bolted from her seat next to the fire and clamped the crimson-eyed warrior in a bear hug, shouting "Naruto!"

She heard him hiss a little in pain, and she immediately backed off, saying, "Oh no! I'm sorry! I-I didn't"—

Naruto, chuckling a little despite the pain, gently pulled Hananoki back into the hug, and told her, "Nah, it's fine, Hana. Just, ah, still a little tender. Sorry I worried you so much."

Suddenly holding back tears (and not quite sure why), Hananoki responded, "You'd better be, you jerk."

The crimson-eyed warrior chuckled again, then said, apparently to Kakashi, "So, sensei… Any idea where my stuff went?"

Hananoki turned around to see Kakashi look up from the weird, leather-bound book he'd been reading, and say, "Umm… I think it might be somewhere…" he reached around behind himself and pulled out a storage scroll, "Oh, look! I found it." The one-eyed Jonin tossed it to Naruto, musing, "I wonder why it was over here…"

Snorting, Naruto said, "Well, it couldn't possibly be that someone used a little of the ample supply of blood I ended up spilling to see if they could find some sort of reading material that had to do with demons…"

"That does seem highly unlikely…" Kakashi admitted, turning another page in the strange book. "Which means… It must have walked over here."

Naruto nodded sagely, saying, "I can believe that. Well, when you're finished with that book, I think I might like to read it sometime." He looked down at himself and added, "But first, I'm going to put some clothes on."

"And then, something tells me it'll be story-time," Kakashi commented.

Naruto frowned, looked at Hananoki and Gisei, then sighed and nodded. He looked like he was about to move away, but Naruto stopped and, smiling at Hananoki, said softly, "It's gonna be kind of hard to put a shirt on with your hands around me, Hana."

Looking down slightly, Hananoki realized that although she'd turned to look at Kakashi, her hands had never actually vacated from Naruto's torso. Now blushing even more, the ocean-eyed girl forced herself a couple steps away, uttering, "Oh! Umm… uh… y-yeah… uh… probably…"

He gave her that magnificent foxy-grin again, and dashed back into the tent.

"Well," Gisei commented once Naruto had left them, "I think that summed up what I was going to say pretty well."

Kakashi grunted, saying, "He healed pretty quickly from those nasty wounds."

Gisei balked for a moment, got himself back under control, then said, "I believe you mean: He healed _very_ quickly from those nasty wounds _that should have left him unable to move steadily for at least another two weeks_."

"Maybe it has something to do with his second chakra system?" Hananoki suggested.

"Maybe…" Gisei admitted without actually looking convinced.

"Maybe you kids are all just nuts…" Tazuna muttered off to the side.

Kakashi shot a glare at the old man, telling him, "Quite you. I still haven't forgotten that you decided to omit any mention of Gato when you requested Konoha to take on this mission."

"Gato?" asked Naruto, coming back from his tent wearing his jacket, complete with Force Edge, over a grey tank-top, and another pair of blue-jeans.

"A crime lord that has managed to bankrupt the Land of Waves by taking complete control of all the country's shipping," Gisei explained to his comrade. "Tazuna here is building a bridge to the mainland; the people's only real hope to be free of Gato's control. Apparently, Gato isn't too fond of that idea."

Tazuna seemed to get angry, saying, "But I never knew anything about any monsters! What have they got to do with Gato?!"

Cocking an eyebrow at the question, Naruto responded, "Probably _everything_. Man, how long has it been since the East has had any problems with demons?"

"Not since the Kyuubi attack, Naruto," Kakashi responded. "And before then… well, I don't think there's ever been many around here besides the bijuu."

"Hmm… maybe they were…" Naruto muttered to himself. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and said, with a smirk, "Well, I suppose this doesn't change the mission except for the fact that we'll actually get to have some fun."

Blinking in shock, Gisei said, "Naruto… You call what happened to you today… _fun_?"

Naruto shrugged and said, "Meh, I've had worse. Hurt like a bitch, that's true, but I could've worked through it if I really had too. Not easily, and I would've been even more fatigued, but I could've done it."

"But… Naruto…" Hananoki began.

He raised a hand, and motioned for both her and Gisei to have a seat. Taking a place next to Kakashi, Naruto began to explain the life he'd led with Dante before coming to Konoha.

* * *

Half-an-hour later, Hananoki, staring wide-eyed at Naruto, said, "Wow… so… Your whole life? Fighting those… things? I… I can't even imagine…"

Naruto sighed, telling her, "Yeah, I kind of grew up hard and fast, because Dad couldn't really live any other way… Through no fault of his own. He just can't stand seeing other people suffer when he has the power to change it." His teammates nodded in assent; they wouldn't be able to ignore an innocent in danger of a demon attack either.

Suddenly clapping his hands together, Naruto announced, "And now that I've given you my credentials, we shall begin your crash course in Demonolgy-One-O'-One!"

He stood up and began pacing around, speaking almost like Iruka had back in the academy. "All demons are divided into four categories; these are: 'low-level', 'mid-level', 'high-level', and 'elite'. As a general rule, the vast, _vast_ majority of these demons want to either: maim you, kill you, eat you, maim-then-kill you, maim-then-eat you, maim-then-kill-then-eat you, or any combination of those words that I may have omitted. Most low-to-mid-level demons have little-to-no brain of their own; they're only good for maiming, killing, etcetera. Assaults, the demons we faced today, were mid-level. That means that someone or something -probably Gato- is controlling them… Either that, or the first one lunged at Tazuna because it thought he looked like he'd make the best meal, which, given that there were four young, fit people also present, is highly unlikely."

"Could a human really control a demon?" Gisei inquired.

"Well… not 'control'," Naruto explained. "He likely made a deal with a high-level demon that controls its own little horde of monsters… A deal that probably involves a lot of sacrifices."

"Oh… Oh no… Sacrifices?" Tazuna said quietly, trembling. "Oh no…"

Naruto just nodded his head solemnly, continuing, "Usually a human will make a sacrifice of blood, or of a single life, to procure the services of a high-level demon, or a small pack of low-to-mid-level ones. But if Gato's got a horde at his beck-and-call… Well, let's just say that something like that is _much_ more expensive."

Feeling a sudden surge of anger, Hananoki couldn't help but say, "What… What would possess a person to… to _do_ something like that?! What kind of man would…?" She shook her head, not wanting to think about it anymore.

"Unfortunately," Naruto commented softly, his eyes downcast, "it's not all that uncommon. Dad and I saw quite a bit of such things back West."

"Naruto," Kakashi said, contributing to the conversation, "Two things: First, this mission has, with the involvement of Gato and his demons, an A-Class mission; so I've sent the Hokage a message asking for reinforcements. They'll be meeting us at the port town as soon as possible. Second… You mentioned 'elite' demons earlier. Could Gato have made a deal with one of them?"

The crimson-eyed warrior looked down at his hands for almost a full minute before answering, "I hope not."

* * *

Team Seven traveled for another three days without incident, and finally arrived at the port town where Tazuna said they could secure passage to the Land of Waves. But it turned out that there was a slight problem when they arrived.

The whole of the port town was in flames.

Staring at the burning town, Hananoki realized that something was bothering her even more than the fires… Other than the crackling of the flames, there was not a single sound emanating from the village. Not a single scream, not a single cry for help… Nothing. Hananoki couldn't suppress the shudder that passed through her.

Beside her, she felt Naruto tense for an instant before he shot into the flaming town. "Naruto!" she yelled, chasing after him without a second thought.

"Hananoki! Wait!" Kakashi shouted, too late.

As the young ninja ran after the young demon-hunter, the flames on the buildings behind her shifted and writhed for a moment, before bursting into an army of fiery bat-like creatures. They began to fly after Hananoki, but Kakashi's fingers had already completed a set of hand-seals he'd taught Raiden almost two years earlier, and he shouted, "**Lightening Release: Arc Lightening**!" Blue-white electricity flowed from the one-eyed Jonin's outstretched fingertips and engulfed many of the strange creatures.

As one, the rest of the flaming demons turned toward Kakashi, Gisei, and Tazuna.

* * *

Rushing through the town, Hananoki got an eyeful of burned husks and splatters of blood that might have once been human. It took all of her willpower to keep herself from viewing what she'd had for breakfast a second time that day.

Hananoki caught up with the crimson-eyed warrior at the wreckage that she assumed had once been the town's pier. Naruto had drawn out Force Edge with his right hand and was holding his gun, Dusk, in his left hand.

She was about to ask what was wrong when she noticed that her and Naruto weren't alone; standing before them was a boy that couldn't have been any older than the Genin were, with hair dyed a mix of orange and yellow so that his head seemed to be on fire, an orange tank-top, gray jeans, no footwear to speak of, and an absolutely manic grin.

"Well… well, well, well… Just in time for the party! Isn't this a nice little surprise?" the young boy said, an echo of mad laughter in his voice.

"Not really," Naruto deadpanned. "I was hoping for more balloons and an ice-cream cake. Honestly, what kind of surprise party is this?"

The young, fire-haired boy let out a lunatic's laugh, and said, "Yes! That's exactly what I would've expected from you! By all reports, you are very akin to that _man_ you call your father… And very akin to _his_ father as a result. Exactly what I would have expected!"

There was a sound of releasing energy, and the youth's head snapped back as if he'd been punched. When he righted himself, he was wearing a sneer on his face and a thumb-sized indention on his forehead. "Insolent child," the youth said to Naruto, his voice much deeper and gravelly. "I was _talking_! You dare attack _me_ while I speak?! I am Rastroth!"

"And I am Naruto," the crimson-eyed warrior replied while he charged up Dusk for a second 'charge shot'. "But what do the introductions have to do with us engaging in combat?"

Rastroth snorted and answered with his boyish voice, "You think I'd waste my time on something as pitiful as a _half-breed_, when my job here is done? I have many things to do; my friend is around here somewhere, and I am sure that he will deal with you appropriately."

_Half-breed?_ Hananoki thought, perplexed. She looked back at Naruto, who was now wearing a snarl on his face. Suddenly, he shot forward with a cry of, "**Stinger**!"

But before Naruto had even finished shouted out his technique, Rastroth had vanished in a brief vortex of flame, and Naruto struck nothing but hot air. The crimson-eyed warrior 'tsked' and put Dusk back in its sheath; that's when they heard the footsteps.

Each step caused the earth to vibrate just a little, and when Hananoki and Naruto looked to their left, they gazed upon a twelve-foot tall demon made entirely of molten rock; the monster had the head of ram, a man's torso, and large, hoofed feet. It approached them and let out a ground-shaking roar.

"Dammit…" Naruto muttered. He sheathed Force Edge and said, "Hana. This thing is a furiataurus; a high-level demon, only because of its sheer power. They have less brain than the dirt we're standing on, but they have more than enough brawn to make up for it. I know you're not gonna like me saying this, but"—

Hananoki interrupted the crimson-eyed warrior with the 'poof' of summoning her war hammer. She spread her feet out a little, then looked at Naruto and, with a quirked eyebrow, said, "Yes?"

Naruto blinked once, then twice, and then he let out low chuckle. "Never mind," he told the ocean-eyed girl. He held his right hand out before him and, after a moment of concentration, said, "Cerberus."

A flash of blue light appeared in front of his hand, which was swiftly replaced with a metal ring that had three light-blue, crystalline rods attached to it. Upon closer inspection, Hananoki realized that the rods weren't made of crystal; they were pure ice.

Glancing in her direction, Naruto flashed Hananoki a quick foxy-grin, telling her, "Just a little trinket Dad and I picked up. I'll tell ya more about it later."

The furiataurus roared again, and summoned a war hammer that Hananoki was sure weighed almost the same as the demon itself. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her shaking stomach.

"Hana," Naruto said in a calm voice that Hananoki had taken to be his usual demon-hunting tone, "I'm gonna go first. Follow my lead." With his piece said, Naruto flipped his three-headed nunchaku around a few times; and then he put two fingers through the ring, and spun the weapon in a circle at an incredibly high speed, yelling, "**Windmill**!"

An ice-cold gale emanated from the weapon, blasting the furiataurus back a step, and beginning to coat the demon in a thin layer of ice.

Hananoki knew an opening when she saw one; she rushed in, pumping her muscles full of chakra to amp up her speed and strength. She had found that it used less chakra to keep it flowing through her muscles, instead of releasing the power at a point of impact; it wasn't as effective, but it lasted a hell of a lot longer. The only problem was that keeping in all that chakra could really strain her muscles, meaning that she was certainly going to be sore afterwards… But she'd take a few hours of sore muscles over death.

The giant demon had just begun to recover its balance when Hananoki slammed the flat end of her war hammer into the furiataurus' right knee with all the strength she could muster; the strike put a cracked dent in the demon's armor, while the metal hammer-head shattered against the resistance. Her ocean-colored eyes widened.

"Look out!" Naruto shouted behind her.

Looking up, she saw that the creature had raised its war hammer with its left hand, ready to swat her away like an annoying insect, and she leapt off to the side as quickly as she could.

It wasn't quick enough.

The demon's war hammer struck a glancing blow to her right side, breaking a majority of her ribs on that side, and hurling the young girl through the air until she crashed into a nearby, burnt-out house.

"HANA!!!" Naruto screamed. He looked at the furiataurus with suddenly glowing, crimson eyes, tossed aside Cerberus (which disappeared in another flash of blue light), let out a nearly inhuman roar of rage, and charged the demon.

* * *

Pain was still flooding her senses, and as Hananoki tried to lift herself to her feet, her _knees_ even, she merely collapsed back onto the floor of the ruined home.

_No…_ The ocean-eyed girl thought, tears falling unbidden in response to her agony. _I… I have to move… Naruto… can't leave him alone… _

"**Hmm… strong, but kind; calm, but not without passion…**" A deep, resonant voice intoned, seemingly from the very air around Hananoki. "**Yes… I shall help you.**"

Before she could find words to respond with, Hananoki felt a… a power wrap around her. She could feel it soaking into her skin; a power of nigh-infinite patience and calm, but a strength and fury that could tear the very world asunder if invoked. As it slowly settled itself within her, the ocean-eyed girl could actually _feel_ her broken ribs being mended, her battered body rapidly regaining its health. No, not regaining, but simply _gaining_ health; she picked herself up off the floor, and discovered that she had never felt better in her entire life!

**My name is Contero**, the voice said, now from within her mind. Hananoki suddenly envisioned a gigantic tortoise, easily as tall as the Hokage Tower without its shell: a small mountain covered with healthy-green trees. The creature's rough skin was the same color as its trees' leaves, and it had eyes colored a deep gold.

"Umm… It's nice to meet you, Contero… I'm Hananoki," The young girl said unsurely.

**Ah, such politeness is a refreshing change of pace**, the voice in her head intoned. **But you need not speak aloud. I am residing in your mind; just direct your thoughts to me, and I shall hear them.**

_Umm… like this?_ She thought, imaging the image of the tortoise.

**Exactly**, Contero told her. **Now, let us see what we can do about helping your friend send that pathetic hellspawn back to the pit it crawled from, shall we?**

* * *

Snarling, Naruto tightened his grip on the head of the furiataurus' war hammer, which had recently attempted to smash him into paste, and tore the weapon from the demon's hand with his own demonic strength. He moved his hands to the handle, and swung the massive war hammer back at the demon, slamming the weapon into its gut.

The furiataurus staggered back with a howl of pain, and Naruto tossed the war hammer aside, rushing the demon once again. Regaining its balance, the demon threw both arms at the warrior with glowing, crimson eyes; Naruto caught each hand in one of his own, locking him and the furiataurus in a struggle of brute strength. At first, the demon managed to overpower him, driving him to the ground; but Naruto hadn't even begun gathering his demonic chakra yet.

However, before he could begin to do so, he heard Hananoki shout, "_Get off of him you son of a bitch_!"

Suddenly the furiataurus stopped trying to crush Naruto, as the demon was being picked up by a golden-eyed Hananoki. She looked down at Naruto as she held the furiataurus aloft, with one hand, and asked, "Do you think this thing would enjoy a swim?"

Blinking away his astonishment that Hananoki was not only okay, but was holding the demon above her head so easily, he looked out to the sea they should have been crossing by now and said, "No… No it wouldn't."

"Didn't think so," she responded with a grin. Then she grabbed onto the furiataurus with her other hand, and, with small grunt of effort, tossed the demon a good one-hundred yards, out into the open sea. It hit the water with a gigantic splash, and an equally large cloud of steam arose as it did so.

Looking back at the young girl, Naruto watched as the golden light faded from Hananoki's eyes. She extended a hand to him with a sheepish grin, saying, "Don't ask. I'm not entirely sure what's going on, myself."

Quirking an eyebrow, Naruto took her hand, and, gently extending his senses, discovered that a second presence now inhabited Hananoki's body. For a moment he feared a demon had somehow possessed her, but as he examined the presence, he realized how… different it felt.

"Um… Naruto?" Hananoki said somewhat hesitantly. "Uh… Well… Contero says that you're being rude. He's"—

"Ah, so that's its name," Naruto said. He looked down at Hananoki's hand which was still holding his own, and he began shaking it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Contero. Name's Naruto. Sorry about the whole, 'probing for information' thing. I thought it might have been a demon or something."

Hananoki blinked for a few seconds, then said, "So… you felt for him?"

Nodding, Naruto responded, "Yep. Come on, Hana: you just tossed a demon that had to weigh at least five times the two of us put together without any real trouble… and your eyes were glowing a golden color. Kind of an extra tip-off."

"Oh…" Hananoki said, nodding in understanding. Then she told him, "Well… he says that it's nice to meet you too, and that he's intrigued because he's never met actually met a half-demon before and…" She blinked. Her eyes widened as she finally finished processing what she'd just heard Contero say.

Ashamedly, Naruto tore his gaze from Hananoki's ocean-blue eyes, and said, "I… I'd meant to tell you… and the others, but…" He struggled to find the right words; after all the times he had run through conversations about his true heritage with his friends in his head, he had never imagined it happening like this. It was… It was too sudden…

_Naruto… Half-demon?_ Hananoki considered again, finally fitting it all together: His second, stronger chakra system, his amazing strength and speed without any chakra amplification, his feral-looking eyes, his amazingly fast recovery, and the inhuman grace he moved with… It was all his demonic half bleeding through.

**Correct, Hananoki,** Contero said in her mind. **And he's apparently quite ashamed of the fact, as well. Perhaps that is why he seems to battle demons with such passion; it's likely much easier than fighting himself.**

Hananoki's eyes softened as she took a second look at Naruto; he was looking away from her, apparently trying to find something else to say, shame all but rolling off from him, his left fist clenched and shaking. "Oh, Naruto…" she whispered, walking closer to him. She gently wrapped her arms around the crimson-eyed warrior, who stiffened in surprise at the contact. "You've been afraid of telling me and the others, haven't you?" Hananoki asked softly. "But it's okay, Naruto; I don't care who or what gave birth to you. And neither will Raiden, Hinata, Ino, Tenten, or anyone else who actually knows you." Her arms tightened around him a little, pulling him even closer as she whispered, "I know you're still you… And you're one of the most amazing people I've ever met."

Naruto laid his head down on her shoulder, silent tears running from his eyes.

"…Thank you, Hana."

* * *

"The three of you will be accompanying each other on a very important mission," Sarutobi said without preamble to the group he'd assembled in his office.

Malak raised his hand.

Suppressing a sigh, the Hokage addressed him, "Yes, Malak?"

"There seems to be a slight problem…" the desert-eyed man noted, "Um… I'm not a ninja."

"Indeed," Sarutobi said, pulling out a large scroll. "Luckily, I think you might find this a worthy use of your time." The scroll was unfurled and revealed to be a map of a seemingly large complex.

"I've had teams picking off bandits for months now, hoping to find intelligence on a certain group of criminals calling themselves 'The Immortal Hunger'. This particular group of bandits have been terrorizing the Land of Fire ever since a year after the Kyuubi attacks. They've always kept their main complex well-hidden, using techniques we have no real knowledge of. But after a number of assaults on their more isolated camps, and some expert spying, we have finally discovered their hiding hole." He waved a hand at the map in general, "It's quite a bit smaller than expected, given the number of members they seem to have, but this is apparently because so many are sent out to their various camps. And now that we've taken out those camps, all that's left is their main base. And that's where you all come in.

"Our spy has reported that the bandit leader, 'Feast', has retained the services of a powerful demon; which is the main reason that, Malak, are going," he told them.

Malak responded, "Not that I don't like ending the monstrous existences that demons lead, but I think Dante could handle one of them on his own."

"True enough," Sarutobi admitted, "But I have him out another mission. And this demon has apparently lent its knowledge to help build the complex's defenses; there are some techniques and seals that no one here has encountered before. Your extensive knowledge of such subjects should prove invaluable."

Raising an eyebrow at the fact that the Hokage had actually paid him a compliment, Malak said, "Well, I suppose I haven't been getting out of the house enough anyway." He grinned wolfishly, clapping his hands together and adding, "This should prove to be a most interesting diversion from the mundane ritual of reading and experiments. I'm looking forward to it already!"

Proving once more that he was a master of patience and tolerance, Sarutobi kept himself from both sighing _and_ rolling his eyes. "Now, Anko, Asuma, I'm about to tell you something that you will both probably object to, but, please, hear me out before you comment." The old man took a deep breath and said, "I want you both to take your Genin teams."

"_What_?!" Both senseis yelled before they could stop themselves.

"This mission is quite dangerous and, quite frankly, you're going to need all the help you can get. Asuma, from your reports, your team is perfect for capturing and subduing targets; Anko, I believe your Genin make a capable assault team. Anko's team will focus on clearing the bandits—numbered at somewhere around one hundred—while Asuma, with Malak's assistance, will make for Feast's room, where Team Ten will focus on capturing and subduing the bandit leader, while Malak handles the demon."

The two senseis looked at each other; then they both sighed and nodded, consenting that bringing the Genin would likely be a wise decision.

"Excellent," the Hokage said, rolling up the map and handing it to Asuma. "I'm putting Asuma in charge of this mission. Anko will be his second. Malak, you are their support." Sarutobi looked at each of the people in front of him, and finished, "You leave tomorrow morning. Good luck."

* * *

Ramming an end of his staff down upon the flaming bat's head, Gisei finally finished off the last of the annoying demons that had assaulted him, Kakashi, and Tazuna.

"Well," Kakashi said calmly, "that was fun. Now maybe we can see where… Oh. Here they come."

Gisei looked down the road into the town to see that Naruto and Hananoki were walking side-by-side (quite a bit closer than usual, he noted), the ocean-eyed girl the only one of them that looked like she'd seen battle, as her clothes were dirtied and ripped in a few places. Although Gisei, for some reason, doubted that Naruto had stood idly by and watched Hananoki fight.

"The docks, and all the boats that might have been near them, have been destroyed," Naruto reported as he and Hananoki reached the rest of the team.

"Well…" Tazuna, still quite shaken from the sight of the burned village, and the sudden demon attack, said, "There's another port town about twenty miles to the north. What about there?"

Naruto frowned in thought for a moment before saying, "I don't know. This village was still burning when we arrived, and if you hadn't noticed, those fires died down fairly quickly. The demons got here not too long before we did; which means they've probably got something watching us, since their first hit didn't work so well." He touched a finger to his chin, muttering, "But I haven't felt anything… perhaps…"

"Um, Naruto?" Hananoki said, bringing the crimson-eyed warrior from his contemplation. "Maybe you should tell them about what happened before we decide on our next move… I'd help, but I'm still trying to soak in everything you and Contero explained to me about his kind."

Kakashi and Gisei exchanged confused glances.

Foxy-grin in place, Naruto said, "Good point. Alright guys, have a seat; this might take a little bit."

After everyone had sat down, Naruto described to them the boy—who was obviously a demon—and the fight with the furiataurus, and then Hananoki (deciding to join in after all) told them about meeting Contero. Which was what Naruto explained to the group next…

"Contero is a spirit," Naruto told his other two teammates. "Now, a spirit is an entirely different entity from a demon, a human, or an angel. Spirits inhabit _everything_ around us; each and every tree you see behind you, every fire you've ever lit, every breeze you've ever felt on your face, even everything you've ever _eaten_ has had a spirit residing within it. Contero himself is an elemental spirit; which is _much_ rarer than you'd probably expect. In fact, many spirits hardly ever gain a true consciousness, let alone take on attributes of a particular element. To become attuned to an element, a spirit has to have been living within the same… 'vessel', I suppose, for… well, for a long fucking time; I asked Contero—through Hana—where he lived, and he said he'd resided in some mountain. This means that Hananoki's new friend is _very_ old and _very_ powerful, as a result.

"Now, you may be wondering, 'Why not help in a more… physical fashion?' Apparently, while spirits technically inhabit this plane of existence, they can't actually form a physical body with which to take action; they have to be living within a vessel. And, believe it or not, inanimate objects aren't really good vessels for action-oriented spirits. The only others available are animals and humans. They usually 'bond' with humans; personally, I think it has something to do with the fact that if they're looking for action, humans are generally more likely to provide it. And, let's face it: we're probably a little better for conversation than a squirrel… Hana, what are you doing?"

While Naruto had been speaking, Hananoki had walked over to a nearby tree and had torn off a thick branch. She looked up from her inspection of the branch, and said, "I had been thinking about how I broke my war hammer trying to hurt that demon, and Contero told me that he might be able to help. Now, shush." She went back to looking intently at the large branch in her hands, apparently listening to the new voice in her head. Then she walked over to the dirt road, stabbed the branch into the ground, and closed her eyes, concentrating.

A soft, golden glow encased the branch, and it began to writhe and twist in Hananoki's hands. After a full minute of it, Hananoki opened her eyes and gazed in wonder at what Contero had forged with his power.

The branch had transformed into a three-foot long, wooden staff, intricately carved with images of falling leaves and twisting branches. She tried to lift it up, but found that a very small section of the staff was wedged into the earth. So, with a grunt of effort, she lifted… tearing from the ground the large, stone head of her new war hammer. It was shaped much like her old one, but carved into both, non-lethal, sides was a depiction of a mountain range standing sentinel behind a forest.

While Hananoki stood staring in awe at her new weapon, Naruto turned back to the others and said, "Like I told you: _very_ powerful."

"It would seem so…" Kakashi said quietly. He shook his head and said, "Alright, now that we've gotten that out of the way… You said there might be demons spying on us; what are we going to do about them? I know you would have said something if you'd sensed them, and I know I haven't felt anything, so they're obviously good at what they do."

Naruto nodded. He looked over at Hananoki—taking some practice swings with her new toy—and said, "I think I know what's watching us, and I have a plan, but I think Hananoki might need a bit more time to adjust to having a spirit riding shotgun in her head. I vote we call it a day, set up camp—preferably away from here—and rest up until tomorrow. Then we'll see what we can do about our stalkers."

The others agreed, and Team Seven moved on to find a more suitable camping location.

* * *

It was seven o' clock the next morning when Teams Nine and Ten assembled before the main gates.

Anko and Asuma were the first to arrive; Raiden came next, shortly followed by Hinata. Ino was next in line.

When she saw them, Ino couldn't help but rush up to the two friends who would be joining her on this mission. She embraced Hinata in a great bear hug first, then did the same with Raiden (who decided to be funny and hug back with twice the force; Ino thought she'd been about to snap in half).

"It's so good to see you guys! Feels like it's been forever!" Ino told the two of them. And it had, for the young blonde; she'd become decent friends with Shikamaru and Choji, but it just wasn't the same. She'd been missing Hinata's quiet, calm presence, Raiden's cool, collected observations, Naruto's rambunctiousness, Hananoki's general excitableness, and Tenten's tomboyish attitude far too much for the past few weeks. It was nice to finally be able to fill in a bit of that gap.

Sasuke showed up next, and Ino immediately expected to see tension arise between the last Uchiha and the young Hatake. But, to her great surprise, when Sasuke walked up, Raiden was the first to greet him.

The amethyst-eyed ninja fist-bumped the raven-haired boy and said, wearing a smirk, "Get enough beauty-sleep last night, pretty-boy?"

Sasuke snorted and, after giving Raiden an up-and-down look-over with a quirked eyebrow, he responded, "Obviously more than you did."

Blinking in shock, Ino looked to Hinata, who leaned over with a knowing look and conspiratorially whispered, "I'll fill you in later." Ino nodded her thanks.

Shikamaru and Choji were the last ninjas to arrive on the scene. Now all they needed was…

"Where the hell is that 'Malak' weirdo? Anko asked impatiently.

"Hey! That's rather unfriendly, don't you think?!" a voice shouted from above the two teams. They all looked up to see that Malak was leaning over the top of one of the gate towers. Wearing his white bowler hat and leather duster, the eccentric man rolled from the top of the tower and somehow managed to land perfectly on both feet. He shot Anko an indignant look, saying, "I don't see why you were so upset… Why, if anyone should be upset, it should be me! Fortunately for you, I am not only supremely charming and blessed with magnificently good looks, but I am also gifted with a nearly unlimited well of benevolence!"

Anko shouted back, "What the hell are you talking about?!"

Shaking a finger, Malak answered, "First of all, Miss Anko, you needn't shout when I am so close; second, I have been waiting atop that tower for the past hour-and-a-half! It's quite rude to keep a comrade waiting so long, you know!"

The eccentric man abruptly turned and began to walk through the gates, saying, "But we are wasting time! There are people to be done and walking to see!" A pause in both action and speech was followed by, "…Or would it be the other way around?" Shaking himself, Malak started walking yet again, now ranting, "Not that it matters! Too much to do!"

After watching his little display, and listening to his mad ranting, Hinata was the only one that decided this was going to be a good trip.

* * *

Tenten and her team finally arrived at the rubble that was left of the town where they were supposed to find Kakashi's team.

_Oh no,_ her thoughts kept repeating. _Oh no, oh no, oh no…_

Just as she and the others were about to begin shifting though the wreckage, a bush nearby rustled, and out walked a little pug-dog wearing a miniaturized version of ninja clothing, letting out a big yawn. "Wondered when you guys were gonna show up," the dog said.

The three Genin stared at the animal in shock, while it just examined them and then looked to Gai and inquired, "You guys are all they sent? I mean, I've heard your team is good and everything, but…"

Nodding seriously, Gai responded, "Unfortunately, most other ninja are performing other tasks at the moment, or are considered… unsuitable for such a mission. I wish we could be meeting again under better circumstances, Pakkun." He looked around at the rubble for a moment before asking, "So where are they?"

"A camp site about half a mile northwest. Just follow me," the little pug told them. He started to go in that direction, stopped, turned back, and said, "And get yourselves ready; you're about to hear some wild stories."

**

* * *

**

**Author's Notes:** Wow, there seemed to be quite a bit of action this chapter… I wonder if we can expect the same from the next one? I certainly hope so! *winks conspiratorially* Please R&R, if it's not too much trouble.

SPECIAL NOTE TO DMC FANS… AGAIN…: I'm gonna be completely honest with you guys and gals: I. Hated. DMC2. As far as I'm concerned, I would've better spent the time I wasted on that game on the toilet. Unfortunately enough, it's still considered canon (for some unholy reason) and, let's face it, the furiataurus wasn't that bad an idea. Clichéd? Yes. Still badass-looking? Absolutely. But since it _was_ still pretty generic, I made it 'high-level' instead of 'elite' (like most bosses would be considered… in fact, the only other I can think of would be Dagon, the ice-toad from DMC4 because there were so many of them! Mutant Frog Invasion, anyone?). There… Just thought I'd clear the air on that.


	9. Chapter 8

**Author's Notes:** And yet another chapter is complete! Hoozah!... Ahem… Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this latest installment to Demons Never Cry!

Yet Another Notice to DMC Fans: This one is to address something that people have brought up about my 'classifications' for demons (which were not delivered in any sort of 'flame' way, and I really appreciate that). A few have said that in the DMC world, some of the most powerful demons are actually classified as 'Devils'. Honestly, I cannot for the life of me ever remember this distinction being made. I'll be the first to admit that I have a bad memory, so it might be that I just don't remember, but even after some online research, I still can't find anything that suggests a distinction; as I understand it, the terms 'demon' and 'devil' are interchangeable. If someone knows I'm wrong, and can point me to something that says there's a difference (a point in one of the games, etc.) I'll happily go back to change my references to 'elite' demons to 'Devils'. Until then, however, I'm sticking with this system. I'm sorry if this bothers anyone too much, but I stand by this decision.

_**

* * *

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_****_

Chapter 8 - One New Friend, Three New Enemies

"You were right, Naruto," Hananoki said, her hands still planted on the ground and her eyes narrowed in slight concentration. "I can feel something moving around beneath us."

Naruto nodded, telling her, "That's what I figured." He brought out Dawn and said, "Okay, I'd like for you to bring it up for a little chat, if you don't mind."

Still utilizing her newfound connection to the earth (courtesy of the spirit now bonded with her), Hananoki sent waves of energy into the ground beneath the remnants of Team Seven's campsite. The earth responded to her power, and expelled the demonic invader.

A strange fish-like creature suddenly flew from the ground, phasing through it as though it wasn't even there. Its eight-sided mouth opened wide in a silent screech as it was forced from the safety of the earth.

Naruto focused some of his demonic power into Dawn and pulled the trigger, causing the gun to eject a fist-sized orb of red energy that ripped straight through the monster as if it were paper.

"Yeah, not so tough when someone can actually get to ya, are ya?" the crimson-eyed warrior asked the empty air around him as the demon's corpse crashed and finished dissolving on top of the ground it had been hiding in.

"So was that it?" Kakashi asked his demon-hunting student.

"Yep. We should be able to move freely now. I vote we head for that port town Tazuna mentioned yesterday," he answered.

Walking up to Naruto, Hananoki asked, "What was that one called?"

"A fault," he replied, holstering Dawn. "A pretty weak demon, if you can catch the damn things. They're usually used to capture enemies, but I figure Gato's demon friend—that Rastroth guy, I'd wager—was just having the fault follow us; then all he'd have to do is see which direction the thing was going, and he'd have plenty of time to plot out an ambush."

Hananoki's ocean-colored eyes narrowed as she remembered the burned village. "Asshole," she stated.

Nodding, Naruto added, "Absolutely."

"Indeed," Gisei chimed in as he finished packing up the tents.

Both Hananoki and Naruto sweat-dropped, and Naruto said, "One day, you are going to want to fully engage in one of our early morning conversations, and when you do, I am going to ignore you."

Gisei couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his face when he replied, "Unlikely."

"Look sharp, people," Kakashi suddenly said. "Company."

Each of the Genin went still, ready to pounce on any enemy foolish enough to try their luck in a battle with Team Seven. They relaxed when they saw Kakashi's favored ninja-dog, Pakkun, walk through the brush. "Brought those reinforcements of yours. Summon if you need anything else," the little pug said.

Kakashi nodded as Pakkun vanished in a 'poof' of smoke, and he watched as Gai and his team of Genin proceeded to walk from the trees, followed by… no one else. The one-eyed Jonin raised his visible eyebrow.

"We're all the Hokage could send; anyone else that could've helped with a mission like this is already on another task," Gai stated seriously. Kakashi nodded his understanding, and took Gai off to the side to fully explain the situation.

Meanwhile, Tenten had rushed up to Hananoki and Naruto (leaving Neji and Rock Lee all by themselves) and had thrown her arms around both of them. "I'm so glad you two are okay! When I saw the state of that village…" she trailed off, not wanting to think about it anymore.

The three enjoyed the small group hug for a moment before separating. "So what's going on?" Tenten inquired, getting down to business.

Naruto and Hananoki traded a significant glance, before the ocean-eyed girl said, "It's a pretty long story. We should wait until everyone is ready…"

"Alright, gather around boys and girls," Kakashi called out, returning with a grim-looking Gai. "Have we got story for you…"

* * *

"So basically, we—two teams of three Genin and a Jonin each—are going to sail right into hostile territory that contains an unknown number of enemies… Most of which we believe to be _demons_," Neji deadpanned once Team Seven had finished telling Team Gai what had transpired over the past few days. After a moment of silence, he added, "Well, at least it sounds fun… The very high risk of death notwithstanding."

For once, Gai didn't try to reprimand him for his pessimism. Tenten wasn't quite sure what to make of that. But then Naruto stood up in Gai's place…

"No one on this mission is going to die," the crimson-eyed warrior stated with a conviction that Tenten had never heard come from him. He turned to walk away, adding, "We should get moving. Anyone with questions can ask on the road; as it is, we're just giving the enemy more time to figure out their spy's been found out."

Hananoki got up before Naruto could finish taking his first step; for a moment, Tenten thought the ocean-eyed girl was going to say something to him, but instead, Hananoki just started walking with him, not saying a word. Gisei glanced at Kakashi, who just nodded, and the quiet boy followed his companions.

Then Kakashi stood as well, saying, "Naruto's right… on both counts. So, let's get moving." He looked at the old man that had been sitting quietly off to the side and said, "Come on, Tazuna. We'll get you home yet."

* * *

Teams Nine and Ten (and their eccentric addition) reached a small town near the site of the main bandit camp after two and a half days of traveling toward the Land of Wind. It was thought to have been left un-raided to make those looking for the bandits that it was farther away than it truly was.

The Genin, their Jonin, and Malak all began walking into the town, intent on the search for food; Malak trailing behind, apparently deep in thought… he'd barely said anything the whole day.

So, worried for the eccentric man, Hinata decided to drop away from the others for a minute, and ask the eccentric man, "Are you alright, Malak?"

"Hmm?" The golden-eyed man blinked before looking up at the girl with pearl-like eyes and saying, "Oh, ah, yes, I'm fine. Just… distracted."

Tilting her head, Hinata asked, "By what?"

"By thoughts," he answered in a tone that suggested he just revealed some sagely wisdom.

Hinata quirked an eyebrow, then sighed. "Well, if you feel like talking about it, I'm fairly good at listening." She gave him a quick smile and ran back up to Ino.

So the young Hyuuga didn't notice Malak give her a perplexed look. He scratched at his chest, thinking, _What a strange feeling…_

* * *

After arriving at the non-burnt-down port town, the group made of Teams Seven and Gai (officially dubbed 'Team Death-Falcon' by Hananoki since no one wanted to argue) had a little debate about who would look for transport over to Wave Country. It was decided that Tazuna—who actually knew a few people in town—would be accompanied by Gai and Naruto.

"Are you sure? I'm sure someone else could go, if you wanted a break," Hananoki said to Naruto off to the side after he'd volunteered to accompany the excitable sensei and the old man.

The crimson-eyed warrior tilted his head in a show of confusion, inquiring, "Why would I need a break?"

Blushing slightly, the ocean-eyed girl answered, "Well, you've been doing a lot the past few days; you've been answering all of our questions about demons, taking more watches than anyone else, being on point every day…" She trailed off when Naruto placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Alright," he said, his foxy-grin in place, "you caught me. I am a little beat; but I think I can handle walking around for another hour or so. Once I get back, you and me will find someplace to kick back and relax. Sound good?"

Hananoki blinked, then asked, a little cautiously, "You and me'? As in… just the two of us?"

Now it was Naruto's turn to blush. But he steeled himself and replied, "Uh… Yeah. I mean… if you want to…"

Focusing the majority of her will on not jumping up and down, Hananoki said, "I suppose I wouldn't mind too much."

Naruto's foxy-grin returned in full force, and he said, "Cool. See ya in a little while!" Then he ran over to join Gai and Tazuna; the small group left immediately.

After they departed, Kakashi began leading the others on a mission to find a place to sit down and wait, and Hananoki found that she could barely keep a skip out of her step.

While she was considering what she might actually say to Naruto once they were alone, Hananoki noticed that Tenten had fallen back from the main group and was now walking alongside the ocean-eyed girl.

With a small smile on her face, Tenten said, "So… Naruto…"

Hananoki walked on for a few feet trying to beat down her sudden blush, then looked up a little nervously at Tenten and asked, "What do you think?"

"Are you kidding? I think it's great!" Tenten told her friend. "I'm just curious; when did you start 'liking' him?"

After thinking for a moment, Hananoki replied, "I think it really started when we got put on the same team. I mean, I'd always gotten along with him really well with him before Team Seven, of course, but, I just… I don't know. I started thinking about him when he wasn't around, I kept catching myself watching whenever he'd lift something heavy, or when he was sparring with Kakashi, or when he was eating, or…"

"Wait, wait, wait," Tenten interrupted. "Let's go back to that 'watching him eat' part."

"I didn't mean to!" the ocean-eyed girl protested. "It just… I was just…"

While Hananoki was trying to come up with an excuse, Tenten was shaking her head. "Oh, Hana," she said, "You've got it _bad_…"

A moment of silence ensued before Hananoki replied, "I know… So you never watched Raiden eat, I take it?"

Now Tenten began to blush a little. "Not… recently…" She shook her head, saying, "But this isn't about me and Raiden! What were two talking so privately about earlier?"

Hananoki's blush intensified a little and she answered, "He said that when he got back with Tazuna and Gai, that he and I would find some time to relax… Together. Just the two of us."

"Whoa… Really? Hana, that's awesome!" Tenten exclaimed, drawing the looks of their companions. She glared in response to their gazes until they decided to turn back around.

Nodding, Tenten added, "Well… I was going to ask if you wanted any help, but it sounds to me like you've got this in the bag."

Hananoki smiled sheepishly at her friend, sincerely hoping that Tenten was right.

* * *

Sitting at a restaurant's table with Raiden and Ino, Hinata watched in fascination as Shikamaru and Malak (at a table right next to the three friends with Choji and Sasuke) engaged in their fifth game of shogi, which, after four straight losses, the usually-lazy Shikamaru seemed determined to win. Even Asuma and Anko were watching from their own table by this point.

"Hinata?" Ino said, bringing the shy Hyuuga back to the conversation. "Come on, no avoiding the question."

"Um… Which question?" Hinata asked, honestly not remembering being asked anything.

Raiden snorted and said, "I don't think she heard you, Ino."

Sighing, the blonde asked again, "Is there anyone you 'like', Hinata? I mean, you asked me earlier, so it's only fair…"

"Uh… actually…" Hinata said, beginning to blush, "I uh… I've… 'liked' Naruto, for a... quite awhile, now."

Raiden and Ino shared a significant glance, before Ino asked, "Really? How long have you 'liked' him?"

"Honestly, I've had a crush on him since the first day I met him," Hinata admitted.

"… And you haven't done anything about it?" asked Raiden.

"I… well… it… uh…"

"Come on, Raiden, the way I understand it, it took you longer to even consider asking out Tenten," Ino chided the amethyst-eyed ninja. She turned back to very embarrassed Hinata with a large grin, saying, "I think you two would be great together! So now… We just have to figure out how you're going to ask him out…"

Before Hinata could protest Ino's scheming, a sudden shout of, "Dammit!" interrupted her thoughts. She looked over to see Malak sitting with his super-villain confidence and Shikamaru staring at the board with his hands gripping his head, apparently trying to tear it off.

While Hinata was distracted by Shikamaru's demand for yet another rematch and Malak's suggestion they make a bet out of it, Raiden and Ino leaned in together and proceeded to have a whispered conference.

"I hate you," Raiden said quietly.

Smirking, Ino responded, "It's not my fault you were wrong. I suppose I can wait until we're back home to collect, if you're that upset."

Raiden stuck his tongue out at the blonde-haired girl, then looked away, pointedly ignoring her. _Maybe I need to stop making bets,_ he considered.

When Hinata turned back around, Ino began plotting how the shy Hyuuga was going to ask Naruto out while the pale-eyed girl began protesting such nonsense. Raiden turned his own attention to something far more productive: reading his newest orange book.

* * *

It had ended taking a little over two hours, but 'Team-Death-Falcon' finally managed to procure oversea-transport. The large merchant-ship's crew had just been finished the loading process when Tazuna had spoken to the genial captain; he'd agreed to let the bridge builder and his escort across if they could leave within the hour. Gai had preceded to high-tail it back to tell the rest of the group.

They had set sail within fifteen minutes of speaking to the captain.

Naruto and Hananoki had finally managed to find some quiet time alone up on the main deck as the sun was setting over the horizon. The only people up there with them were a couple of crew members, both of which were at the wheel chatting. The rest of them—including the other ninja—were below decks, eating.

Staring out at the setting sun, Naruto decided to steal yet another glance at Hananoki; he just couldn't seem to help himself lately. The crimson-eyed warrior supposed he still couldn't believe how easily she'd accepted that he was half-_demon_. He'd met precious few demons that weren't entirely without morals or restraints, and even they were of questionable integrity.

That was when Naruto realized that Hananoki now knew more about him than he knew about her. He'd explained all about his demon-hunting and now even his own demonic heritage, and yet all he knew about the ocean-eyed girl was that she'd been friends with Raiden, Kakashi, and Tenten for freaking ever. _Perhaps I should remedy that…_

Unfortunately, conversation that didn't involve snarky comments or some other form of taunting had always been a bit of a problem for Naruto. So the crimson-eyed warrior just formed a bunch of questions that he'd like to have answered, and decided to throw them Hananoki's way. "So, Hana," he began, turning to look at the ocean-eyed girl, who turned and quirked an eyebrow in response, "What's your family like? I've never heard you mention them."

Hesitating for a moment, she gave Naruto a slightly sad smile and answered, "Well, Naruto… That's actually because I don't have any."

Naruto stared dumbfounded at the young girl. He'd known that Raiden had been an orphan when Kakashi had found him, but he'd no idea that any of his other friends hadn't had any parents.

"Unlike you or Raiden," Hananoki continued, before Naruto could come up with a response, "I didn't have anyone who just… picked me up. My parents were killed in the Kyuubi attack," Naruto expertly hid his wince, "and I ended up being raised in the orphanage." Her sad smile grew a little brighter. "It wasn't that bad though: the people there were very kind and caring, and they did their best to take care of all of us, even though there were so many. And when I was old enough to understand how much they were doing, I decided that I wanted to help people like the workers at the orphanage did."

Nodding in comprehension, Naruto asked, "And that led you to training to become a ninja because of the many similarities between them and social workers, right?"

Hananoki stuck her tongue out at the crimson-eyed warrior, who just chuckled back. Then she explained, "You can blame the whole 'ninja' thing on Raiden and Kakashi. One day, when one of the caretakers had taken some of us out to the park…"

_Flashback_

_A four-year-old Hananoki found herself idly wondering what that boy dressed in black and navy-blue was doing over near the edge of the park all by himself. The little girl looked back the group of orphans running around in a game of tag and then back at the lone boy. Considering that she barely knew any of the kids she'd been brought out with, she figured her chances were better trying her luck with just the one boy._

_As she approached the little boy, Hananoki noticed he seemed to be playing around with a ninja's kunai. Upon closer inspection, the young girl noticed that the boy was somehow moving the sharp object around without even touching it. After of a moment of staring in awe, Hananoki couldn't help but say, "Wow… That's so cool!"_

"_Wah!" shouted the boy in surprise. The kunai flew upwards, and began descending straight towards Hananoki. But before the little girl could really register she was in danger, the boy jumped in front of Hananoki and deftly caught the sharp weapon between two fingers. Sighing in relief, the young boy pocketed the kunai and turned to look at Hananoki with eyes made out of amethysts, saying with a sheepish grin, "Sorry about that. You really startled me!"_

"_Sorry?" young Hananoki asked. "But that was so awesome! How'd you do all that? Could you teach me to do it?"_

_The little boy blushed slightly at her excitement, explaining, "It's just a little bit of ninjutsu…"_

"_You're a ninja?" Hananoki exclaimed._

_Waving his hands frantically in front of him, the boy said, "No, no I'm not. I mean, I'm training to be a ninja, but I'm not really one yet…" Amethyst eyes blinked, then the boy extended his right hand, adding, "I'm Raiden, by the way. It's nice to meet you."_

_Blushing in embarrassment at her rude manners, Hananoki swiftly shook his hand, saying, "Oh! Right, sorry… I'm Hananoki. It's a pleasure to meet you too."_

_Raiden looked like he was going to say something else, but then his eyes widened and a big grin appeared on his face. He began waving his left hand over his head and yelling, "Hey, big brother!"_

_Turning around, Hananoki found that a tall, slender man with a ninja's headband covering his right eye was walking towards her and Raiden._

"_Hey there, Raiden," the tall man said, reaching out and rustling Raiden's hair when he got to the two kids. "Who's your friend?"_

_Raiden promptly grabbed Hananoki's shoulders and presented her to his older brother, telling him, "This is Hananoki! She wants to be a ninja too! Hana, this is my big brother, Kakashi; he's the one teaching me ninjutsu!"_

"_Hmm..." Kakashi squatted down and looked at Hananoki. After a moment, he said, "You might be able to make a decent ninja. What do your parents think about it?"_

_Her gaze falling to the ground, the little girl responded, "I… I'm an orphan…" Before the man could respond, however, she raised her head with a resolute look, saying, "But… ninjas help people, right? If it meant I could do good for people, I'd be the best ninja I could be!" _

_Blinking in surprise for a moment, Kakashi muttered, "Interesting…" He looked around for a moment and, spotting the orphanage caretaker out that day, got up and walked up to the man. _

_After a short conversation with a bunch of hand gestures in Hananoki's direction, Kakashi returned and said to the young girl, "So… about that ninja training…"_

_Flashback End_

"The orphanage got me enrolled in the Ninja Academy the very next day. From then on, my days mostly consisted of going to class, going to Raiden's house to train with Kakashi, and going back to the orphanage to sleep. In fact, a lot of times I remember just sleeping over at Raiden's house. Through him, I met Sasuke and, a little later, Tenten. And then…" Hananoki casually waved a hand down at herself. "You pretty much know the rest."

Naruto just shook his head with a small smile on his face. Then he said, "Thanks, Hana. For telling me, I mean."

An eyebrow quirked and smile on her face, the ocean-eyed girl responded, "Well, I figured it was the least I could do. Since you told us about your life back West and all." Noticing that one of Naruto's hands was still on the railing, Hananoki decided to be a little bold, and reach her own hand over and cover Naruto's hand.

Smiling back, Naruto figured that, while he still felt slightly bad for bringing it up, he was just glad she hadn't taken any offense. Then he noticed that one of Hananoki's hands was resting atop his own. The crimson-eyed warrior turned his own hand over so that he could take a hold of Hananoki's.

The two looked back up at each other with bright blushes and large smiles.

* * *

"Hmm…" Malak hummed while he stood staring into the empty night air in front of the party.

The eccentric man had called a sudden halt to the group's nighttime travel. They had been planning on assaulting the bandits' complex that night, so that hopefully most of the outlaws would be asleep or otherwise too weary to put up a real fight.

_Of course,_ Raiden thought, _no plan survives first contact with the enemy_. He considered Malak's behavior and then, closing his eyes, attuned himself to the world around him. As soon as Raiden felt the leaves rustle in the faint breeze as though he were a leaf himself, he opened his eyes.

In his state of Harmonic Resonance, his amethyst eyes were able to view what Malak was staring at; a gigantic dome of energy that continuously shifted through the entire spectrum of color.

"This is some impressive work," he heard Malak whisper to himself (vibrations in the air were all too easy to pick up on when you were perfectly attuned to _everything_ around you).

_No shit,_ the amethyst-eyed ninja thought in response. He couldn't even tell how far the damn dome spread out! Unable to help himself, Raiden walked up next to Malak so that he stood right in front of the shimmering spectacle.

"You can see it," Malak quietly stated. Raiden nodded very slightly in response, and the eccentric man continued, "This is the power that the art of magic can grant its wielder, Raiden. This is the force that demons, angels, and even old spirits use to make themselves so powerful. Normal, human chakra is—generally—too weak to be able to force something to appear from nothing. That's why they developed ninjutsu and similar techniques; they had to have some way to defend themselves. But, there are those with… special circumstances that can overcome these limitations. Once this is over, I think it will be time for you to learn how to do so." Flashing a quick grin at the young ninja, Malak turned and announced, "Houston, we have a problem!"

Raiden turned as well, just in time to see everyone's confused looks before Anko asked, "Who the hell is Houston?"

After heaving a dramatic sigh, Malak asked lamentably, "Don't any of you people watch _movies_? Ah, well…" Shaking his head, the desert-eyed man explained, "It appears that the demon helping this 'Feast' has managed to erect a very powerful, very large veil about…" he looked back behind himself for a moment "… I'd say one-hundred yards away from the complex itself. The veil keeps everyone who doesn't pass through it from seeing the complex. And it even acts as an alarm system; the veil's user—the demon—will know if anyone passes through. The demon will alert the bandit leader, who will alert the other bandits, and then they'll be ready for us."

Lifting his eyebrows, Asuma asked, "Is there some way to disrupt it?"

Taking a deep breath, Malak stated, "Therein lies the problem: I can't disable the veil without the demon knowing that the spell has been tampered with. Then he'll alert the bandit leader, who will alert the other bandits, and then they'll be ready for us."

"So we have a dilemma," Shikamaru said. "Either we cross the veil and they learn we're coming, or we disable the veil… and they learn we're coming. Personally, I dislike both of those options."

Sasuke snorted and commented, "Something tells me that was probably the whole point."

"There is one last option," Malak told the group. When they all returned their gazes to him, he elaborated, "This option will require a slight change in plan, but one I think you'll all agree with. First of all, the only kinds of demons that could pull off this kind of spell and keep it going would be elite-level ones. As in: 'out-of-your-league'. Luckily, yours truly isn't too shabby with the whole 'magic' thing himself; with a bit of effort, I could destroy the veil _and_ any other enchantments the demon has placed in or around the base. That way, you ninjas only have the bandits to worry about, and I can make a beeline for the 'elite-demon-that-you-guys-can't-fight-because-it'd-eat-you-for-breakfast'."

Anko and Asuma looked at each other, nodded, and then they both nodded at Malak. "That seems to be our best option, at this point," Asuma said. He looked around at the Genin and added, "Other than that, I suppose all we can do is get ready to fight. Team Nine will go in first, followed by us, and then Malak can come in when the coast is clear and go demon-hunting."

Malak smirked at Asuma's last statement and said, "Then I guess it's go-time!" Then he turned, extended his hands out in front of him, concentrated, and called out, "Fracta!"

Turning around himself (again), Raiden watched as the dome of ambient light shattered into multi-colored dust. Able to see past the dome's area now, he also got to see dozens of other shapes made of light that had been scattered through the forest break into particles of dust. And despite the fact that he knew that the structures weren't benevolent by any means, Raiden felt sorry to see such beauty pass into nothingness.

After all, if it could happen to constructs forged entirely of magic, it could happen to anything.

* * *

He felt something wrong as soon as they reached the front gate of the complex. But Malak deduced what it was too late to save Anko—who was about to blast open the doors with a fire jutsu—from being struck by a huge bolt of lightning that slammed through the gates and into the poor woman. Asuma caught the woman before she could slam into a nearby tree and checked her pulse. "Dammit," he muttered, laying her down and beginning to perform CPR.

"Here!" Malak yelled, tossing the man a small vial of red liquid. "Make her drink that! She'll be better in no time!" He looked at the destroyed doors, and saw a shadow form in the smoke. The Genin behind him all fell into fighting stances and he heard Anko gasp and start coughing.

Upon seeing that her sensei was okay, Hinata sighed and said to Malak, "I take it that wasn't your 'cure'?"

Flashing her a wolfish grin, the eccentric man assured her, "Nope." Then Malak extracted another vial, this one filled with clear liquid, and he stated, "This one is."

"What the hell was that?" she yelled as she lifted herself to her feet with Asuma's help.

"A little taste of what is to come," the figure in the smoke stated. A bald man that looked to be Malak's age emerged dressed in a navy-blue, Western-style business suit. The man's eyes—which seemed to be the exact same color as his suit—widened as he caught sight of Malak.

"My goodness!" the golden-eyed man exclaimed. "Is that you, Alastor? I almost didn't recognize you; did that old ugly-stick get to picking on you again?"

Sneering, Alastor spat, "Malak… Why am I not surprised? I just begin enjoying myself, and _you_ decide to show up to ruin the fun."

"Fun?" Raiden asked out-loud.

Alastor's sneer became a manic grin and he spread his hands, saying, "Why, yes. You see, some of us demons find humans to be nigh-intolerable company; I am, quite frankly, surprised at myself for putting up with Feast and his ilk for as long as I did. But, having grown bored and tired of the pests, I decided that their lives would be better off serving a higher purpose: me."

Now it was Malak's turn to sneer in disgust. "You devoured them, didn't you?"

"Every single one," Alastor acknowledged with a little bow.

Sighing, Malak turned to look at the ninjas around him, and he told them, "All of you step back… _Way_ back. This is about to get messy."

Looking seriously at each other, everyone backed off a few feet.

Raising his eyebrows, Alastor interjected, "Oh no, you don't think they're going to get away with standing there doing nothing, do you?" He looked back behind him at the smoke and asked, "What do you have to say about that, Griffon?"

A very tall, very slender man with hawkish features, brown hair, blood-red eyes, and a tan suit emerged from the smoke without an expression on his face. "I'd say that would be incredibly unfair. After all, everyone here should be entertained equally," Griffon said.

Then he flicked a hand in the direction of the two Jonin that had suddenly begun rushing towards him and Alastor, and red lightning blasted both ninja off their feet and back into the forest. "My, my… It seems those two have had enough of the festivities already. Such a shame…"

Malak looked between both demons-in-human-clothing and took a deep breath. He looked back at the Genin, all of them staring wide-eyed at the 'man' that had just taken out the two Jonin. Catching Raiden's eye, Malak glanced in Alastor's direction. Then, with two lightning-quick flicks of his wrist, brought out his black-skull-topped, silver cane. The eccentric man twirled it around a couple of times, and when he stopped it, Malak was suddenly holding a black-handled, silver-bladed longsword.

And then, in a blur of motion, he tossed the vial of clear liquid at Alastor and Griffon. The two dove in opposite directions as the vial violently broke upon the ground between the two demons and released an equally violent explosion.

A wolfish grin adorning his face, Malak charged into his first real battle in years.

* * *

Keeping a bead on the target Malak had directed him against, Raiden readied his kyoketsu shoge, Matsuri. When Alastor landed he found a chain wrapping around his neck, and he failed to grasp it in time to stop it from clenching him in a tight chokehold.

Without giving the demon a chance to retaliate, Raiden focused his chakra and sent a surge of electricity arcing through the chain carved with seals. The demon arched his back in sudden pain, and likely would have cried out in pain if he hadn't been in the middle of being choked. Alastor collapsed to his knees… and started chuckling.

"How interesting…" he rasped. "That actually hurt. There's something different about you, isn't there? Ah well…" The demon lifted himself to his feet and stopped trying to pull the chain from around his neck, instead beginning to actually examine it. "Clever seals you have here. Tailored to respond only to your own chakra, isn't it? Well then… I guess all I can hope to do is overpower you." Closing his eyes, Alastor lowered his head for a moment, and then he threw it back in a primal scream as a blinding flash of blue light emanated from the demon's body.

Matsuri was thrown violently from its perch on the demon's neck, and Raiden stumbled back as he tried to reel his weapon back in. Blinking his eyes, he finally managed to bring his vision back into focus.

The amethyst-eyed ninja now faced a figure that seemed to be covered head to foot with harshly-edged, storm-cloud-gray armor, and even sported bat-like wings the same material and color.

"Ah… Much better…" Alastor sighed, stretching around and shaking his arms and legs out.

_Well… fuck,_ Raiden thought. Releasing his true form had increased Alastor's power exponentially. So, considering that he could probably use every advantage he could get, the amethyst-eyed ninja slipped back into Harmonic Resonance. As everything began flowing together, Raiden saw what he'd expected; a black, inky aura had manifested around the demon, clashing with the harmony and order around it.

Through a lot of study and practice, Raiden had found that the Resonance applied to much more than just his sight; it allowed him to sense any and all disruptions in the order that nature created. He could simply… _feel_ when his opponent was about to move. It was difficult to predict exactly _what_ the enemy was going to do, but at least Raiden would know _when_ his foe was going to do something. And he'd take any advantage he could get.

And so the amethyst-eyed ninja was able to feel it clearly when the demon was gathering power. Watching in slight fascination, Raiden saw Alastor throw a pulse of vile, black lightning at him. He dodged to the side, and then heard a bunch of pained cries sound out behind him.

The amethyst-eyed ninja looked back to see that all of the other Genin lay prone on ground, their muscles locked up by the pulse of electricity Alastor had thrown at their nervous system. "Ah, crap…" Raiden muttered.

"Sorry about that," Alastor said unapologetically. "But they all looked ready to jump into the fray. We couldn't have them ruining our time together, now could we?" Chuckling, the demon snapped his arms out to his sides, and his forearms and hands suddenly transformed into single-edged blades.

Raiden took a deep breath and drew his butterfly swords, Hirameki and Shougeki.

* * *

Griffon's scimitar clashed against his longsword once again, and Malak said, "You've gotten slower."

"And you've gotten weaker," the demon stated back calmly. He threw his demonic strength into the struggle, causing Malak to jump back. "You used to be stronger than this."

Quirking an eyebrow at his foe, the eccentric man asked, "Have I taught you nothing, Griffon? There is more to strength than brute force."

Narrowed eyes filled with suspicion, Griffon glanced down at the weapon he'd summoned to his hands. His eyes widened when he noticed a tiny sticker painted with an intricate seal stuck to his left hand.

Malak snapped his fingers just as the demon threw his left arm to the side; then Griffon's left hand exploded. The only sign of discomfort was that a frown found its way to his face. He shook his bloody, burnt stump and then just let it hang at his hip as his hand began to grow back.

Glaring at the eccentric man, Griffon noticed a sudden blue flash off to the side. "Already?" The demon sighed. "Always so impatient…"

His own head turning to look, Malak commented, even as he watched all the Genin except Raiden get paralyzed, "It's not as if it will matter."

Now Griffon cocked an eyebrow, asking, "You really think that boy will defeat Alastor?"

"I'd bet my life on it," Malak responded with a sly grin on his face.

Griffon seemed to consider that for a moment before his mouth curled in a small, half-smile.

* * *

His weariness nearly cost him his life.

He supposed he should have expected it; after all, demons can live for millennia. That can amount to a _lot_ of sword practice, even if you didn't train every day… or even every month.

Despite the slight advantage his Harmonic Resonance was proving him, Raiden found himself extremely hard-pressed to keep up with Alastor. It didn't really matter how soon he could feel the movement coming, or even if he knew where it was coming from; the demon was just so damn fast! And, unlike Raiden, Alastor didn't seem to be tiring in the least. The amethyst-eyed ninja's arms were already sore from blocking demonic-powered strike after demonic-powered strike.

And then the demon charged him yet again. Raiden stopped Alastor's overhead chop, then deflected the thrust aimed at his heart. Using the momentum of the block, the demon spun with his deflected sword-arm and attempted to slash Raiden across his chest; the amethyst-eyed ninja simply leaned back on his hips.

Eyes widening in panic as he realized his mistake, Raiden thought, _Shit!_

Alastor immediately capitalized on Raiden's misstep, bringing both of his sword-arms to bear and sweeping the two down on the unbalanced ninja. Raiden's butterfly swords met them halfway, stopping them for but a moment before Alastor's superior strength (aided by good-old gravity) began driving back the ninja's blades.

The struggle lasted almost half-a-minute, and then Alastor swept both of his blades to Raiden's left, taking the amethyst-eyed ninja's weapons with them. Hirameki and Shougeki flew from Raiden's grip, leaving the young fighter leaning to his left.

Then Alastor thrust one of his swords through one of Raiden's kidneys.

Terrible, searing agony flared through the amethyst-eyed ninja. The blade was suddenly torn out of him, and Raiden stumbled forward only to be met with an uppercut slash that gouged a burning line of pain at a slight angle up his torso and then his left cheek, just missing his mouth and his eye.

He tried to stay standing, but the pain was just too much; the amethyst-eyed ninja fell flat on his back and curled to his wounded kidney, trying to keep himself from bleeding out. But there was so much blood already…

Above him, Alastor sighed. "I thought you'd last longer than that. Damn…" Footsteps told Raiden that the demon was walking away. "That wound should kill you in a few minutes; which means you'll have just enough time to listen to your friends cry out in pain and agony as I rip them to pieces."

Raiden didn't really know what happened next. All he knew was that he had to get up; he _had_ to stop that bastard from hurting Hinata, Ino, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Choji.

_Get up…_ he told himself, reaching for as much chakra as he possibly could. Power—strong, steady, familiar _power_—began to well within him.

_Get up!_ His skin began to pale, his amethyst eyes shining brighter and brighter.

_GET UP!_

Surging from the ground and turning in one fluid motion, Raiden flipped through a set of hand-seals that Kakashi had taught to him a year ago. Even now, his brother's words echoed within his memory: _'This is a blade with which to protect what you hold dear. I can't think of anyone better suited to using, probably even improving, my only original technique.'_

Raiden thrust his left hand at the ground; lightning the very color of the boy's glowing eyes screamed to life around his hand, forming a blade-like edge. Watching as Alastor began to turn back to look, Raiden charged forward with a speed he'd have thought impossible if he'd been thinking about anything other than destroying his opponent.

His left hand thrust forward, his skin nearly glowing white, his amethyst eyes blazing with an inner storm, Raiden screamed, "RAIKIRI!"

* * *

Watching in satisfaction, Malak's already wolfish grin only grew as Raiden stabbed his technique right through Alastor's arrogant skull. The amethyst-eyed ninja stood there for a moment before he withdrew his lightning-blade from what was left of the demon's head, and then slashed an 'X' through the demon's chest, apparently just for spite. As the amethyst-colored lightning faded from Raiden's hand, Alastor's body was enveloped in a dark-blue glow, and suddenly a fine katana with a gray, spiraled hilt that ended in a small, spiked pommel, and a silver, single-edged blade that extended from the open dragon's mouth that served as the guard stuck in the ground.

"Hmm… it's not over quite yet…" Griffon muttered off to the side.

Malak nodded in consent, but his confident grin remained untouched.

Unable to believe what had just happened, Ino hesitated for a little bit before she actually lifted herself to her feet, despite the sudden release of her limbs from the paralyzing effects of Alastor's attack.

When she did finally get herself vertical, the blonde-haired girl considered Raiden more closely. It was then she noticed he wasn't just pale, but his skin was actually _white_, practically glowing in fact; and his amethyst eyes actually _were_ glowing. But, more importantly, he was standing, despite the fact that he seemed to still be bleeding profusely from his undoubtedly painful wounds.

"Raiden?" she asked hesitantly. "Are… you, uh… okay?"

Glancing at Ino with a quirked eyebrow, Raiden said, in voice that seemed to echo by itself, "I suppose I can't really complain. I'm alive, right?" Then he reached over and touched the katana that Alastor had left behind.

The sword pulsed with blue lightning, then spun up into the air, oriented on the amethyst-eyed ninja, and suddenly stabbed him through the gut, electrifying him at the same time.

Raiden stumbled back a few inches from the force of the blow, and then raised an eyebrow, as if asking the sentient sword if that was all it had. Then he grabbed the katana with his left hand and ripped the blade from his stomach. He gripped it with both hands and concentrated; the sword's blue lightning slowly shifted into Raiden's special, violet brand of electricity.

After giving it a few test swings, the amethyst-eyed ninja nodded at his new weapon in expert appreciation.

"Cool," he said.

* * *

Turning to look back, Malak saw that Griffon was already walking away.

"You win this time," the demon said, dropping a piece of paper behind him.

"Hold on a moment, Griffon," the desert-eyed man said. The demon halted without looking back, and the eccentric man said, "I find it strange that Konoha's spy reported only _one_ powerful demon, when there were actually _two_. Seems like a rather large oversight, doesn't it?"

Griffon merely chuckled, still refusing to turn around. The air around the demon shimmered, and Griffon was gone.

Malak picked up the piece of paper, gave it a quick glance-over (_Hmm… Why didn't I think of that?_ he asked himself), and then rushed over to Raiden's side, who'd just decided to collapse in exhaustion. As the eccentric man approached, the boy's skin gained back its original color and his wounds began to bleed even more than they'd been when he'd been ghostly-white.

Without a word to the Genin surrounding Raiden, who were trying to keep him from bleeding out, Malak pulled out yet another vial of red liquid, opened it, and poured it down Raiden's throat. The wounds began to close within seconds, but, as the potion worked its magic, it became clear that the amethyst-eyed ninja wasn't going to get away without any scars to adorn his features. But at least his breathing had become steadier and the bleeding had stopped.

"Malak." The man in question looked up to see Hinata, Ino, and even Sasuke looking at him with burning eyes as Hinata asked, "Where is the other one?"

Deciding that telling them that he'd let Griffon go without much of a fight would be something along the lines of a bad idea, Malak said, "He high-tailed it when he noticed his friend getting his skull obliterated."

"Whoa, wait, what'd we miss?" asked another voice from behind the group. They all looked up to see Asuma and Anko helping each other walk over to the crowd. But when Anko saw who was laying in the middle, she shouted, "Raiden!" and rushed from Asuma's supporting arm to kneel before her injured student. Choji and Shikamaru stepped op to keep their sensei from falling over.

"What the hell happened?" Anko 'asked' Malak.

The desert-eyed man sighed, saying, "This could take a little explaining…"

* * *

"I don't like this," Kakashi stated the next morning on the deck of the merchant ship.

Gai nodded his agreement. "It seems too… heavy."

Both of the senseis stared out into the thick fog that seemed to envelop the sea in front of their vessel. It had just appeared out of nowhere earlier in the morning, and there was no way they could avoid it without heading far off course. Needless to say, Tazuna was very against taking any longer than necessary, and even Naruto agreed that time was likely of the essence.

So the ship sailed slowly and cautiously into the mist.

_

* * *

_

Okay… ow…

thought Raiden as he brought himself to a sitting position. He looked around the tent he'd awoke in, and found his shirt and jacket folded neatly and laying next to the two, stacked sleeping bags he'd been sleeping on. All of his equipment (including a long item wrapped in cloth) was sitting on the opposite side. The amethyst-eyed ninja began to take stock of his injuries, and found that his torso was completely wrapped in bandages. Remembering the slash Alastor had struck him with, Raiden felt the left side of his face and found another bandage extending from the left side of his jaw up to his left temple, just missing his mouth and eye.

As he recalled more and more of his battle with Alastor, Raiden considered the strange surge of power he'd grasped when the demon had nearly killed. Focusing on the feeling of that alien, and yet somehow familiar, energy, the amethyst-eyed ninja found that it now came to his beck-and-call very easily, perhaps even eagerly. He drew a small portion of it into himself, and the pain faded into the background of his thoughts, becoming something abstract and unimportant. Raiden watched in fascination as his skin began paling, amethyst lightning crackling at his fingertips.

Suddenly the tent flap opened and Malak said, "Experimenting, are we? I'd noticed that you'd awoken it."

"… My angelic power…" Raiden said quietly, the realization just hitting him.

Nodding, the eccentric man told him, "Now that it's been awoken, it's yours to use whenever you wish. I think you'll find that it comes from a much, _much_ deeper well than your human chakra; unfortunately, since your body is more human than angel, you're going to be really freaking tired once you let it go. But still, angelic power is far more powerful, if you hadn't noticed already." Malak snapped his fingers and added, "Oh, that reminds me: I… ah… kind of told… well… everyone about your… condition."

Raiden's head snapped up so fast he nearly broke his neck with whiplash. "You _what_?"

Hands patting the air in a placating gesture, Malak said, "Now, now, don't go getting all excited. You're still quite injured… Besides, it became somewhat… necessary to my well-being that I explain why you 'transformed' like that." The desert-eyed man tilted his head, went silent for a moment, then said, "Ah… you're afraid of their reaction, aren't you?" Grinning, Malak stuck his head out the tent flap and yelled, "Guess who decided to join us in the land of the living!" Then he turned, winked at Raiden, and left the tent.

Barely three seconds later, Team Nine and the rest of Team Ten crowded themselves into the small tent. Ino and Hinata both gently hugged Raiden, the blonde asking, "How are you feeling? Are you sure you should be sitting up? Is there anything you need?"

After blinking in surprise for a moment, a familiar, easy smile found its way to Raiden's expression, and the amethyst-eyed ninja simply hugged the two girls back.

* * *

"I knew this was a bad idea," Kakashi stated on the deck of the merchant ship.

Gai nodded his agreement. "Seems we now know why the mist is so heavy."

To the left of the trading vessel the Konoha ninja stood upon floated an even bigger boat, apparently built to house the large number of demons that were currently flinging themselves at the ninja.

"Dammit," Naruto muttered behind them. "Really? Assaults, a fault, a furiataurus… and scarecrows? Methinks our foe is running out of options." The young demon-hunter stepped in-between the two senseis with his guns drawn, let the first demon land on the deck, then blew a hole in its chest.

Turning to address Team Gai and the other members of Team Seven, Naruto told them, "I think you all can handle these losers. They're slow and weak; but they're not thinkers. There's something controlling them, and I'll bet it's on the other ship. So…" the crimson-eyed warrior stepped forward, "… I'm gonna go say hi." Naruto charged, blasting a couple more scarecrows into green mist as he went, and leapt onto the opposing ship.

"Naruto!" yelled Hananoki, Kakashi, and Tenten. The one-eyed Jonin and the ocean-eyed girl attempted to go after Naruto, but were cut off by the demonic pirates. Tenten, however, found her way to the edge of the merchant ship and managed to throw herself onto the enemy's vessel.

The other six ninja quickly found themselves battling steadily increasing numbers of enemies, and each of them decided they wished they could be fighting whatever was leading this sudden raid.

* * *

"Man, the mist is even thicker over here," Naruto observed as he walked forward on the large deck of the enemy's ship.

"I know, right?" agreed a voice behind him. Turning and drawing Force Edge, Naruto blinked in surprise at seeing Tenten stepping up to him while she made a couple of minor adjustments to her summoned battle-gear. She drew out her battle-axes, Katsu and Danpen, and added, "Probably means it's originating from here. Any demons you know of that could pull this off?"

Suddenly an eerie voice that seemed to come from everywhere around the two young ninjas told them, "I know of one..."

Naruto twisted to his right and brought Force Edge down in an arc; his blade clashed and locked with an enormous zanbato.

"So, the boy _is_ a swordsman… How interesting…" the bandaged man behind the large sword noted. He suddenly skipped back with agility unbefitting of someone with so big a weapon, as Tenten and her axes assaulted him. "Well, well, another warrior, eh?" asked the man as he clashed with the young girl. He parried another of Tenten's attacks, sidestepped the next, and slammed the flat of his rectangular blade into her back, throwing her deeper into the mist. "Sorry, miss, but I'm only interested in Blondie at the moment. You can play with my friend if I can play with yours."

Narrowing his eyes as he scrutinized the man, Naruto cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. "I'd prefer if you called me 'Naruto' if ya don't mind," he said. "Of course, you can call me 'Blondie' if I can call you 'Creeper'."

Chuckling, the man replied, "My name's Zabuza; nice to meet you, Naruto." He hefted his zanbato onto his shoulder and added, "Although, it'll be even nicer to kill you. So, if you're ready…"

The crimson-eyed warrior and the bandaged man charged each other at the exact same time, their blades clashing in a shower of sparks.

* * *

"Please don't take this personally," the person with the hunter-nin mask asked of Tenten. "Zabuza-sama told me to kill anyone I face, so I'm afraid that's what I have to do."

Tenten's hazelnut-eyes glanced down at the axes she'd been covering in blood for months now, shrugged, and told the hunter-nin, "I won't take it personally if you won't." Then she rushed at her opponent, swinging her battle-axes in an 'X'-strike. The hunter-nin blurred off to the side, and Tenten felt three stings right above her elbow, where her armor plates didn't cover her flesh. She looked down and examined the three senbon needles that had struck her.

_Dammit, why is everyone on this freaking boat faster than me?_ She thought, frustrated. Taking a deep breath, the hazelnut-eyed girl calmed herself and came up with a new plan. Katsu and Danpen were sheathed; her naginata, Eki, was tossed up into the air; her storage scroll was brought out, and a large 'poof' of smoke later, Tenten was without her armor and weapons… except for Eki, which promptly dropped into the girl's hands.

After ripping out the three senbon, Tenten glared at the hunter-nin, who seemed to be patiently waiting for her to get ready. "Are you prepared, now? I hope you can move faster with…" The hunter-nin just barely ducked under the hazelnut-eyed girl's swift charge and naginata swipe. Before the masked ninja could ready a counterstrike, Tenten was already using her slash's momentum to swing around cut low at her opponent. Once again the hunter-nin was barely able to make it out in time, this time leaping over the swipe and its executor.

Twirling her weapon around as she turned, Tenten brought the naginata down on the hunter-nin's masked face; a move the ninja responded to by stepping forward and catching the haft of the weapon with one, surprisingly-strong hand. "Very good," the masked ninja said, "But I'm afraid I need to end this; I imagine Zabuza-sama is almost ready to move on to the rest of your friends, and he wouldn't be too happy with me if I missed it." The hunter-nin's empty hand began flying through a series one-handed seals, and when they ended, Tenten's enemy said, "**Ice Release: One-Thousand Needles of Death**!"

The mist around her began to group together into small, spear-like clusters and solidify into spikes of ice. _Shit!_ Tenten thought. Pushing her naginata (and the hunter-nin) away, she flipped rapidly through her own set of hand-seals. As the last of the ice spears solidified, Tenten cried, "**Fire Release: Burning Vortex**!" Swinging her arms out wide, the hazelnut-eyed girl launched herself into a spin and brought a pillar of twirling flame into existence around herself; the needles of ice that had suddenly become so intent on impaling her were promptly melted.

Her jutsu swiftly played itself out, and Tenten ended up facing the hunter-nin once again. The masked ninja had still been holding her naginata, and upon seeing that her technique was finished, said, "Impressive," and tossed back the weapon.

Eyeing her naginata, Tenten cautiously picked up her favorite weapon, saying, "You'd think an enemy would want to capitalize on any advantage they could get; by doing something like… oh, I don't know… depriving them of a weapon with which they are proficient."

Chuckling, the hunter-nin responded, "It's true that you're pretty good with that spear… but it doesn't really matter. Because I'm going to end this." More hand-seals were flashed through before Tenten could reach the masked ninja and stop the jutsu; her opponent yelled, "**Ice Release: Crystal Ice Mirrors**!"

Twelve mirrors of ice formed around Tenten at ground level; eight solidified above those, angled down at the ground; one more came into being directly above Tenten, creating a dome around her.

As the hazelnut-eyed girl finally reached the hunter-nin, her opponent leapt back, straight _into_ one of the mirrors. The blade of Tenten's naginata struck the icy surface of the mirror, the masked ninja having disappeared into the jutsu. _Well,_ Tenten considered, _this can't be good_. Turning, she immediately confirmed her suspicions: every single mirror held the image of the hunter-nin, and the ninja's voice echoed as if from every direction, "This is my best technique; no one has ever escaped from this cold prison."

"There's a first time for everything," Tenten muttered. Dropping her weapon, the young girl swiftly went through the set of hand-seals for her strongest jutsu and shouted, "**Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Missile**!" Tenten breathed out a large dragon forged entirely of flame that crashed into the mirror right in front of her and exploded, destroying the targeted mirror and damaging the three directly adjacent to it. She kicked her naginata out the opening first, then rushed for the exit…

The mirrors reformed just as she was about to pass through. Skidding to a stop, her eyes wide, Tenten turned to see the many images of the hunter-nin somehow smirking at her through the blank mask.

_Well… fuck_, she thought.

* * *

Naruto let out a low whistle. "Whoa… all one-hundred of them?"

Chuckling, Zabuza confirmed, "Yep. Of course, Mizu ended the practice after that; decided that it might be a lack of resources or something. Although, from what I've heard about you, that's not a very impressive feat."

The crimson-eyed warrior shrugged, saying, "I've never faced a hundred opponents at once. I mean, personally I abhor killing fellow humans, but if they're trying to kill you too…" he shrugged, "…not much you can do about it, I guess. Still: you seem to enjoy it. I'm afraid I'm going to have to find that somewhat… disgusting."

Now it was Zabuza's turn to shrug. "Call it what you want; I am what I am. Which reminds me…" The bandaged ninja hefted his zanbato back to a ready position, continuing, "I've kind of got a job to do. Damn shame… I like you, kid. You're tough, you don't take shit, and you stick to your beliefs… But I'm still going to kill you."

Shaking his head, Naruto responded, "You're an interesting guy, Zabuza, and I think we'd get along fairly well if weren't for your current line of work. But you're not going to kill me."

An eyebrow raised, the missing-nin asked, "I'm not, am I?"

Naruto shook his head one more time, answering, "No… No you're not." Crimson power erupted around the young warrior, pushing Zabuza back with its sheer force.

The crimson-eyed warrior charged, ready to end his fight and get back to his friends.

* * *

Tenten cried out as yet another pair of senbons found their mark; they struck two separate nerves in her right arm, rendering it completely useless… just like her left arm and leg. _Dammit_…

Suddenly her right leg went numb and collapsed, and Tenten fell to her back. "It's over," said the hunter-nin's floating voice. "Now you die…"

**BULLSHIT**! roared a sudden voice in Tenten's mind. An image of a house-sized, red-skinned tiger with veins of lava coursing around its entire frame, rings of flame burning around its ankles and neck, and blazing, orange eyes flashed through her thoughts. _Okay,_ Tenten told herself, _Um… What the hell is going on? Who… What are you?_

**Unimportant**! the strange being growled. **What IS important is proving that little bitch wrong! Now get off your ass and let's tear this punk a new asshole!**

Raging power flooded Tenten's body, and as her eyes began to shine a bright orange, a similarly colored aura began writhing and twisting around her. She suddenly found it all too easy to lift herself to her feet despite the many needles still sticking out of her various nerves. Glaring at the multiple images of the hunter-nin staring at her in surprise, Tenten decided that whatever this weird tiger-thing was… she liked him.

**Well, I'm glad you approve!** the tiger shouted within her. **Now can we get to the burning? Melt those fucking mirrors and let's see how tough this masked freak really is!**

As the entity fed her a series of instructional images, Tenten drew on the power raging through her and flicked her wrist at the top-most mirror; a ball of flame the size of Tenten's head flew smoothly through the ice mirror (which had already mostly melted from the intense heat of the fireball). Twirling her forearm in a circle, she brought the fireball back around and incinerated the eight mirrors below the top one, while a full-armed, circular swing led the ball of intense flame around to disintegrate the last twelve mirrors. The hunter-nin jumped out of the last mirror just in time, rolling along the ground to avoid Tenten's new attack. Whirling her hand yet again, the hazelnut-eyed girl brought her fireball back to her hand. Then she said, "Sorry. Nothing personal," and she thrust her hand at the masked ninja, launching her flaming sphere straight at her enemy.

Unfortunately, as the fireball was about to melt the hunter-nin into an unrecognizable puddle, a figure suddenly flew threw the mist and crashed into the masked ninja, throwing both out of the way of Tenten's technique.

"Zabuza-sama?" the hunter-nin yelled, rising and helping up the bandaged man from before.

The man got up and stared straight past Tenten, saying, "Come on, Haku; we're done here. We can always try again later." Grabbing up the hunter-nin, the bandaged man flashed through a set of hand-seals, then ran to the edge of the boat and jumped. The sea leapt up and caught him and the masked ninja, and proceeded to spirit the two of them away.

"Dammit…" Tenten heard from behind her. She turned to find Naruto sheathing his sword, and then he looked up at Tenten… then did a triple-take as he noticed the blazing, orange aura still surrounding her, and her glowing, orange eyes.

"Holy shit…" he said, apparently awe-struck. "You too?"

Blinking in confusion, Tenten began to ask what the hell the crimson-eyed warrior was talking about, when she suddenly recalled the story of Hananoki and her new friend. "Wait… you mean…?"

**What? You didn't realize what I was?** the fire spirit within her asked, sounding slightly offended. His tone became slightly more passive as he said, **Well… I guess you were kind of distracted with the whole 'not-being-able-move-and-about-to-die' thing… So I'll forgive you. But just this once!**

_Uh… Thanks,_ Tenten thought to the spirit. _And thanks even more for the help! But… Can I know your name?_

A moment of silence was preceded by, **Oh… Did I forget to mention that? **When it was apparent that, 'yes, he had forgotten', the fire-spirit told her, **You can call me Exuro. Ah… I kind of already know your name, Tenten. Sorry about that; kind of a hard fact to miss when you're hanging around in someone's mind.**

Tenten nodded in understanding. Before she could respond, however, Naruto waved his hand in front of her face and said, "Hey! Sorry to interrupt your conversation with your new friend, but we should probably go check on the others, don't you think?"

"Oh, crap!" Tenten shouted, realizing he was right. Looking around frantically, the glowing-orange-eyed girl finally found Eki, her naginata. She picked it up and rushed to catch up with Naruto, who was already speeding through the fading mist.

* * *

As it turned out, the other ninjas had just finished clearing out the demons on their merchant ship when Naruto and Tenten finally got back. Everyone stared at Tenten and her orange eyes and aura, until Hananoki shouted in excitement, "Hey! You too?" The ocean-eyed girl proceeded to run up to Tenten and give her a high-five.

**Greetings, my old friend,** Contero said to Exuro, bringing up their age-old bond to communicate with him through their vessels.

**Hey to you too, ya geezer,** the fire-spirit responded good-naturedly. **I have to say: I'm impressed with this girl. Been watching her for awhile, and boy, is she a fighter! Actually looking forward to working with this one.**

Sounding somewhat surprised, Contero said, **My… That's unusual. But I'm glad you seem to have taken to her so quickly; I think it bodes well. I am quite fond of my host, as well.**

Exuro snorted. **Yeah, but you've always been a soft touch… I'm surprised at myself, actually. Thought for sure that guy was pulling our legs…**

**He certainly was a strange one, **Contero agreed.

* * *

Back across the sea, while adding an ingredient to a mix that would produce more healing potions (his group was taking a short break from traveling), Malak sneezed.

… And his concoction blew up in his face.

**

* * *

**

Author's Notes:

Yeah, I know the Alastor sword wasn't a katana, but… seriously, I _can't_ see Raiden using a claymore-sized weapon. Besides, it's just better this way; trust me. Anywho, I'd really like to hear everyone's opinion on the chapter, as per the usual. 


	10. Chapter 9

**Author's Notes:** Dammit, you'd think a summer vacation would give a person _more_ chances to write not _less_. But between work, family trips, and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life… yeah. Didn't really happen as I'd planned. At any rate, here it is, at long last! The latest Demons Never Cry!

* * *

_**Chapter 9**__**-Awakening**_

Raiden decided he didn't like his scars.

He hadn't really given them any thought since unwrapping his bandages the night before, but stepping out of the shower this morning and looking in the mirror, the amethyst-eyed ninja finally got a decent look at his three separate battle-wounds from his fight with Alastor. Angled down, the ugly scar on his face lined up perfectly with an even uglier wound that originated from just below his heart and cut diagonally down all the way to his right hip. And, just for kicks, Raiden supposed, Alastor's kidney stab had left a reminder of the pain on the far left side of the young ninja's gut.

_Dammit… I'm only thirteen, and I've already nearly gotten myself killed,_ Raiden thought. A moment later, he shook his head and grabbed a towel to dry himself off with. It wasn't right to be upset about it; he'd known from day one that being a ninja wasn't a job with a particularly long life expectancy. The amethyst-eyed ninja reminded himself that he'd been very, _very_ lucky to get away with just a few scars.

After a couple of routine, rudimentary applications of lightning chakra to zap-dry his hair, then slick it back down, the amethyst-eyed ninja headed to his room and began dressing. As he finished, Raiden took a moment to admire the walls that had been covered with various different paintings over the years. At a young age, the ninja had discovered a deep appreciation for art, most especially painting. Unfortunately, he'd also discovered a complete lack of skill when it came to any form of artistic expression; so, Raiden had to settle for being a mere connesuier.

In particular, he gazed at the intricate painting of the wolf howling at the moon that Hananoki had given him for his birthday months ago. He wasn't sure exactly what it was about the painting that captivated him so much, but he definitely knew that it was his favorite.

Smiling to himself, ready to begin his day, Raiden picked up Alastor from its place next to his nightstand and headed out to see about getting his new sword a scabbard.

* * *

"Really?" Hananoki asked in surprise. "He seems more like the kind of guy who would just stand back and let others do the fighting for him."

Naruto laughed and replied, "He usually does, as a matter of fact. But make no mistake; Malak can kick some serious ass if he decides it's worth his time."

Snorting, Tenten commented, "I don't care how much ass he kicks; he's still creepy as hell."

"Aw, you just haven't spent enough time with him," Naruto said. "He grows on ya after awhile."

"So does fungus…" Tenten muttered in return.

Hananoki giggled, squeezing Naruto's hand and looking up at him with a bright smile. He returned the gestures with a slight blush, then turned back to Tenten and said, "True, but at least Malak is clean."

This brought both a laugh and a head-shake from Tenten. Deciding that Naruto wasn't going to let her win the argument, she turned her attention back to the road they'd been on for the past few hours. 'Team Death-Falcon' (Tenten still wasn't sure how Hananoki came up with that name) had finally arrived in Wave Country the night before, and they'd set out for Tazuna's home the very next morning. She'd expected that the senseis of the group would want to head out immediately, but both Kakashi and Gai had both voted to rest for a day; it had been Naruto that pushed for haste.

Glancing at the crimson-eyed warrior as he walked along with Hananoki's hand in his, she considered it a troubling sign that, despite his obvious happiness with the blossoming relationship between him and Hananoki, Naruto was still very worried about something.

* * *

A few minutes later, as the group was about to pass a small lake to the right of the road, Naruto stiffened. Spinning from Hananoki's grasp, the crimson-eyed warrior charged straight at the lake. At nearly the same time, the water erupted from the lake and froze solid in mid-splash as a new foe flew into the air.

The demon was vaguely humanoid in shape, with two long legs that became formed of ice beginning at the knees; a torso of gray, scale-like skin; a right arm that merged with a huge, shield-like block of ice at the elbow; a left arm with an enlarged hand with a thumb and three, sharp ice-spikes to serve as fingers; and two pauldron-shaped icicles on its shoulders, framing a head covered in an icy helmet.

Naruto leapt at the high-level demon just as the creature reached the apex of its flight, and the cold steel of Force Edge clashed with the even colder ice of the frost's right arm. The frost tilted its head, then threw its arm to the side and tossed Naruto back to the earth, where he landed nimbly on his feet.

He glanced to the side to see Hananoki and Tenten drawing on the power of their spirits so that they could come aid him.

And then a total of twenty-five assaults leapt from the trees and attacked the group of ninjas, assisted by a large horde of scarecrows.

_Shit!_ Naruto thought._ Dammit, where the hell are they getting all these fucking demons?_ He dove to side to avoid the frost's charge, and it didn't escape his notice that the ice-demon placed itself between him and his friends.

Crimson eyes narrowed, the young demon-hunter shook off the nagging sensation that something about this frost was different from others he'd faced. Instead of thinking about it, Naruto lifted Force Edge and charged his foe, intent on getting to his friends.

* * *

Malak had felt the presences long before they'd actually entered the shop, and so was easily able to smirk away the pair's attempt at surprising him with their visit.

"I think you'll be pleased to know that our brothers have already taken your… 'advice', Malakevnicant," Amnis said upon arrival.

Malak didn't even look up from his book when he pointed out, "You know, I prefer that everyone just calls me 'Malak'. Much easier that way… And I'm not I sure I recall ever giving you my full name."

"Oh, does that upset you?" Procella asked him. "It shouldn't; we figured you'd be proud that, unlike our brothers, we decided to do our research."

"Ah," the golden-eyed man responded, "Well, I'm sorry to say that you figured incorrectly. Congratulations. Now, may I ask as to the business of this particular visit? You're interrupting an intense action sequence in the story."

Amnis eyed him and his book critically and answered, "We just wanted you to know that we shall be more than prepared for any sort of betrayal you may be planning, and we shall kill you if you actually decide to attempt it."

Snorting and raising yet another eyebrow, the eccentric man said, "Yes… Because all I have to do in my spare time is coldly calculate murderous plans of betrayal, and other disorderly activities. You caught me. Again: congratulations are in order."

It looked as if Amnis was going to chime in again, but Malak raised a hand and brought up a point far more interesting to him than her disappointingly flat attempts to get a rise out of him, "So, Contero and Exuro have chosen their vessels?"

"Correct," Procella answered with a slight sigh. The pair of spirits looked at each other, then back at Malak, and Procella continued, "We have also watched the ones you suggested and have decided that, despite our suspicions regarding you, they are definitely worthy vessels."

"But we _will_ be prepared, Malakevnicant," Amnis assured him. Then she and her sister dissipated into nothing, leaving the eccentric man alone.

Waggling his fingers and rolling his eyes, Malak let out an, "Oooooooo…" to let them know how frightened he was.

* * *

Eki took down two more scarecrows as Tenten twirled the naginata around and cut down the demons. The earth suddenly shook, and the hazelnut-eyed girl turned to see Hananoki easily swinging her warhammer around; the movement of which apparently being the cause of the shifting and tearing earth. Swinging the massive weapon to her side, Hananoki caused a large piece of rock and dirt to tear itself from the ground and crash into a group of scarecrows that had been preparing to lunge on her.

'**Ha! Looks like Contero already gave the girl her Medium**,' Exuro commented inside Tenten's mind. '**Well, we can't let them get the better of us, now can we? Wanna give it a whirl?**'

Before she could respond, Tenten's instincts screamed at her to turn around. As she did, the young ninja saw an assault begin its leap towards her. _Well, I suppose now's as good a time as any…_

The demon was closing in quick, but, luckily, Exuro (since he was speaking to Tenten inside her own mind) explained at the speed of thought. Eki began to glow a red-orange color, and Tenten used both hands to begin spinning the naginata at her side. The demon lunged at the young ninja just as she thrust her favorite weapon at the creature…

An enormous lance of flame erupted from Eki, completely engulfing the lizard-like demon. When the blast subsided, a pile of ashes fell at Tenten's feet as she gazed in awe at the changes Exuro had wrought on her naginata: the metal shaft now looked slightly burnt, and a stream of crystalline, gold-orange flame curled around the entirety of it, ending at the pommel, which now resembled a fireball made of the same material; the blade itself was now shaped like a curved flame, also crafted from the gold-orange substance.

Someone behind her let out a low whistle, and as Tenten turned, Hananoki commented, "That's a pretty awesome naginata." Then the ocean-eyed girl turned and swatted a scarecrow into oblivion with her earthen warhammer before it could bring its sickle-arm to bear.

Glancing over it again, Tenten replied, "Eki has always been awesome. Exuro's just helping him show off." She thrust her new-and-improved weapon a little to Hananoki's right, throwing a tight lance of flame through yet another scarecrow and burning the creature to cinders.

Hananoki turned and looked at the pile of ash that used to be a demon, and said, "Maybe I should wait until we're done here to start a conversation…"

* * *

The force of Naruto's sword stroke took yet another chunk off of the frost's right arm and knocked it high, allowing the crimson-eyed warrior to bring Force Edge back down for a slash across the demon's exposed stomach. Stumbling back, the frost leapt into the air and swung its left arm back and forth, launching a series of icicles at Naruto.

But he'd been prepared for that.

He finished his set of hand-seals and called out, "**Hell-Fire Release: Demonic Fireball**!" Breathing out, Naruto released his demonic-chakra-fueled ninjutsu: a giant, dark, red-orange fireball. The result of his secret experimentation with Kakashi and Dante hurtled towards the frost, uninhibited by the pathetic missiles of ice the creature had thrown. Curling into a ball, an orb of ice suddenly encased the demon; the fireball hit the orb directly…

The ensuing explosion of heat and demonic energy shook both air and earth, and from the smoke and steam fell the limp form of the frost. The demon hit the ground, and didn't make any attempts to get up. It did, however, begin pulling itself towards the now-melted lake.

Walking up to the prone frost, ready to finish the demon off, Naruto almost missed the giant sword whirling out from the trees towards him. The crimson eyed warrior jumped in place, letting the large blade fly under him and hit a nearby tree. Looking around, he didn't immediately see anybody, so he readied Force Edge to strike the still-fleeing frost…

"**Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet**!" cried a voice from behind Naruto.

The lake's water erupted, twisting into the shape of a large dragon staring down at the young warrior. "Goddammit…" Naruto muttered as he sheathed Force Edge and crossed his arms in an 'x'-block. The water dragon crashed into Naruto just as the crimson-eyed warrior cried, "**Block**!"

Releasing his technique as the water receded, Naruto turned to find Zabuza pulling his zanbato from the tree it had gotten stuck in. He looked back at the lake to find that it had begun freezing over, which meant the frost was already beginning to heal itself. Sighing, the crimson-eyed warrior stared at Zabuza and said, "You, sir, are a huge pain in the ass."

The missing-nin smirked behind his bandages, responding, "Heh, you have no idea…"

Naruto's eyes narrowed, then he spun around; just in time to deflect the frost's charge as it erupted from the lake again, whole once more. Spinning yet again, Naruto locked blades with Zabuza. The two clashed swords a few more times before the crimson-eyed warrior threw the missing-nin's weapon out wide, and leapt to the side, dodging the frost's icicle barrage, but failing to capitalize on the opening he'd created.

Gazing on as the frost touched down next to Zabuza, Naruto sighed yet again. "I suppose I should see if I've gotten any better…" he said to himself, sheathing Force Edge and holding his hands out in front of him. Throwing his arms to the side, Naruto yelled, "Agni! Rudra!"

* * *

Rastroth watched as the two young girls demolished more of his demonic servants than any of the other ninjas assembled. The more he watched, the more enraged he became, right up until the brunette girl's naginata underwent a dramatic, powerful change. Eyes widened and interested, his anger suddenly forgotten, Rastroth focused his senses on the girl and her blue-eyed companion. _Now that's strange…_ the powerful demon thought. _It almost looks as if…_

His breath caught in his throat as he recognized the sources of the girls' power. "What the _fuck_? Those two should be… Dammit!"

Turning and walking away from the battle, sending mental orders to his remaining servants to withdraw, Rastroth ground his teeth in frustration. The presence of even one, regular elemental spirit was cause for a little concern; the presence of not just one, but _two_ of the Four Scions changed _everything_. As much as he loved bloodshed, he would need to abandon the current plan for dealing with these pests and come up with an entirely new one. _It is a necessity_, Rastroth told himself.

All the same, he knew his master would be less than pleased.

* * *

Blinking in confusion, she merely watched and lowered her warhammer as the last seven assaults and twelve scarecrows retreated back into the forest.

"Is it just me?" asked a voice behind Hananoki. She turned to regard Tenten as the hazelnut-eyed girl continued, "Or was that a little too easy?"

After thinking it over for a moment, the ocean-eyed girl nodded her agreement. Opening her mouth to say something, she found herself cut off by the sudden cry of, "**Crawler**!" Hananoki swiftly turned to watch as Naruto scraped two strange swords across each other, and then slam both blades down on the ground on either side of him, causing his two opponents (when had that guy with the bandages gotten here?) to leap over the aquamarine blades of flame that rolled towards them. The bandaged man and the ice-demon both leapt towards the crimson-eyed warrior, the man bringing his oversized zanbato to bear and the demon readying its icicle fingers.

Just as the two were nearly upon Naruto, and Hananoki was about to cry out, the young warrior swept up his two blades and twirled them around above his head, shouting, "**Twister**!" As he did so, a tornado of sea-green flames as sharp as any sword rose up around him, tearing into both the bandaged man and the ice monster, and a strange voice emanated from the twister, "_Ash to ash_." The blaze suddenly expanded as a similar voice finished with, "_Dust to dust_," throwing the bandaged man into the lake and tossing the ice demon into the nearby trees.

Naruto looked back and forth between the lake and the woods a couple of times before sprinting towards the trees, supposedly to finish off the demon. As he did, however, the creature appeared above the treetops, and flew over the lake, where it caught the bandaged man as he lunged from the water, and together they flew out of sight of the ninja. The crimson-eyed warrior stared after the pair of enemies for a minute, then sighed and looked over towards Hananoki and Tenten, about ready to charge over until he noticed that there weren't any more demons trying to eat them.

Shrugging at his confused gaze, the ocean-eyed girl said, "We had taken down a bunch of them, and then the rest just ran away."

"Ran away…" Naruto repeated skeptically. He looked around, apparently attempting to sense the demons, but after a moment he shook his head and muttered something under his breath. Walking towards his girlfriend, the crimson-eyed warrior dismissed his scimitars in a swirl of aquamarine flame.

Hananoki noticed that Tenten started a little when Naruto's strange blades disappeared, as though she'd been concentrating on them intensely. "You okay, Tenten?"

"Huh?" Tenten turned to Hananoki with a slight blush and said, "Oh. Yeah, I'm fine." She grinned, adding, "I just had a bit of inspiration, and was letting my mind run with it."

"What are we running with?" Kakashi asked as he approached the three friends. "Better not be scissors. You know what happens when you do…"

Blushing even more, Tenten told the elder Hatake, "That was _one_ time! And it's not like he got mad about it or anything…"

Kakashi grinned behind his mask and countered, "True. Though I suspect you were lucky that he was a little too preoccupied with the sharp, pointy object stuck in his shoulder to consider taking some kind of offense."

"Wait…" Naruto chimed in. "Now I've gotta hear this story."

"There's no time," Tenten pointed out sternly, her face beginning to resemble a tomato. "We need to get moving before those demons decide to come back and try again." The hazelnut-eyed girl walked forward at a brisk pace, refusing to look back and see if anyone was following.

* * *

Walking into the shop, Hiashi was immediately struck by just how many books were stuffed into all the shelves. _I wonder if the proprietor likes to read,_ he thought.

Sure enough, at the desk situated in the middle of room was a young-looking man with dust-blonde hair, sand-colored eyes, a red tanktop, and his nose in a book. At first glance, the man hadn't even noticed Hiashi's entrance, but the old Hyuuga clan-leader could see the subtle tension that entered the man's limbs. While his eyes never left the text he was reading, the man was appraising Hiashi. _How interesting…_

Activating his Byakugan, Hiashi was momentarily taken aback. The man's chakra—

"Why sir…" said the man in a bored tone, "…what strange eyes you have…"

The Hyuuga leader calmed himself and deactivated his technique. If the Hokage had deemed this man a threat, he would not have been allowed to enter Konoha, let alone establish a business. Hiashi had always trusted the Sandaime's judgment; he saw no reason to stop doing so now.

Stepping over to one of the bookshelves and skimming over some of the titles, Hiashi responded, "I apologize if I have offended you. But I have heard that my daughter has been frequenting here, and I found myself curious as to why."

"Ah, so you are Hiashi Hyuuga," stated the man, now sounding slightly interested, but still refusing to lift his eyes. "My name is Malak, sir. It is a pleasure to meet the man who raised such a fine girl; Hinata has been a great friend to me these past few months. Our conversations are always an entertaining diversion from the mundanity of daily life."

Hiashi nodded, picking up a book that had caught his interest. "She has spoken of you quite fondly as well, Mr. Malak. Fondly enough to make me wonder if there is more to these 'conversations' than just talking."

A sigh emanated from the area of the desk, and Malak told the Hyuuga clan leader, "Sir, with all due respect… Your daughter is thirteen. I am thirty. Even if the thought had crossed my mind, I am not a pedophile."

"It is not unheard of around these parts for younger women to be married to older men," Hiashi answered. Then he thought about it and added, "Of course, those are usually arranged marriages. And you are from the West… I take it your culture frowns upon such behavior?"

"Very much so," Malak responded. "But I have to admit, I have quite often found myself thinking, 'If only I were younger…"

Hiashi actually found himself chuckling at the man's last statement. Gods, how long had it been since something had truly caused him to laugh? "Haven't we all?" he asked, turning around. He walked over to the desk that Malak was seated at (his book now closed and his eyes finally on Hiashi), showed the sand-eyed man the book he'd picked up, put the amount of money written on the little sticker on the spine on the desk, and headed for the door.

As he opened the portal, behind him Malak suddenly said, "You must be quite proud of how strong your daughter has grown. I'll bet her father's support has been invaluable."

The words struck at something deep within Hiashi, and he had to resist the sudden urge to grasp at his chest. Keeping his voice steady, not turning to face Malak for fear of what he might see, the Hyuuga clan leader simply responded, "Indeed," and hurried out the door.

* * *

_So, Exuro,_ Tenten thought towards her spirit companion as the group of ninjas continued on their way to Tazuna's home, _You never really explained what a 'Medium' _was…

'**Ah, you're correct. Too caught up in the action I suppose…**' Exuro made a sound like he was clearing his throat, and explained, '**A Medium is an object—such as, I don't know, a weapon or something—through which elemental spirits like me and Contero may more easily channel our power.**'

_But I thought joining with a human in the first place was what allowed you to do that?_ Tenten considered.

Within her mind, the hazelnut-eyed girl somehow… 'felt' Exuro give her an approving nod as he said, '**True. But the 'joining' process takes time; you utilized but a fraction of my power against that ice-wielding ninja. A Medium gives our vessel access to more of our energy than would normally be possible at this stage in the process.**'

Tenten considered that for a moment before asking, _Well, how come you and Contero did it so differently? Hananoki told me that Contero used the earth itself to forge her weapon… Could you have used a bonfire or something?_

'**A good question**,' Exuro congratulated. '**But tell me… Did she not also say that Contero asked her to take a tree branch and dig it into the ground?**' Tenten answered in the affirmative, and the fire spirit continued, '**As you already know, we spirits need a physical, solid vessel in order to act upon the physical world. Mediums follow the same principals; they cannot be simply willed into existence. Contero used the branch from a tree and stone from the earth, both of them just as real as your naginata. Slightly more simplistic, but the old one always was particularly pragmatic in that sense… And no, a simple fire would not suffice; as I said, the object must be physical **_**and**_** solid.**'

Nodding to herself as she began to understand better, Tenten asked another question, _What about when this… 'bonding' is complete? Does the Medium still give us more power? Or is there a limit to it?_

'**Hm…**' Exuro considered the question for a moment before responding, '**Well, first, by the time the bond is finished, a Medium, while still being useful, does cease granting more of our power; by then, you'll have full access to my power yourself. And secondly, you're thinking in terms of someone having only one Medium.**'

_Wait… so I could have more than one?_ The young ninja thought.

She could practically feel the spirit's grin when he considered, '**I did notice you seem to have quite the arsenal of weapons… Perhaps the next time we stop, we'll see what we can do with them…**'

* * *

"Yeah, I can work with this," Kenta said. "I take it you want to be able to draw the blade as quickly as possible?"

Raiden smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Weren't _you_ the one that told me that was the whole point of iaido?"

Kenta scratched his chin in a serious manner, saying, "Did I? Huh… Guess I haven't lost all those years at the Academy after all." Taking another moment to examine the sword, Tenten's father pointed out, "This is a very fine blade. You say you found it in a bandit camp?"

"More like a fortress, to be honest. Leader had it in his room as a decoration," the amethyst-eyed ninja lied. "I call it Alastor."

"Well, I don't have any other work at the moment, so I can start on it right away. But first, ya mind coming into the back with me?" Kenta asked, heading into the forge area.

The amethyst-eyed ninja followed the man into the back of his shop and closed the door behind him. Kenta turned without preamble and said, "I'm worried about my daughter."

Raiden blinked in surprise, then grew as serious as Kenta and asked, "What's going on?"

Taking a deep breath, Kenta lamented, "I wish I knew… A couple days ago, Tenten and her team got back from a mission. And as soon as they reported to the Hokage, they were immediately sent off yet again. The old man wouldn't do that unless there was some kind of emergency." Kenta looked down slightly, continuing, "I know I should trust the Hokage's judgment, because he also wouldn't send them off unless he knew her and her team could handle it, but… I have a bad feeling."

Raiden put a hand on the man's shoulder and told him, "You get started on that scabbard, take your mind off this for a bit; I'll go see what the Hokage has to say." The amethyst-eyed ninja turned and exited without waiting for a reply, his own thoughts now plagued by the possibility of Tenten coming to harm.

* * *

Naruto had wondered for moment why Tazuna sounded so nervous when he pointed out his house, and then the crimson-eyed warrior noticed the man casually leaning against the door.

The stranger was a little over seven-feet tall with dark-orange, spiked hair, a full beard, and gray eyes. Over a sculpted, athletic frame he wore a tight, brown T-shirt, a black, leather jacket, gray jeans, and pair of black sandals.

And it was obvious to Naruto that he wasn't human.

"So you are the bridge builder…" the 'man' stated in a deep, baritone voice, belying his lithe frame. "And you are his guardians…" he added, his eyes tracking over the ninjas. Then Naruto watched as the disguised-demon's gaze settled on Hananoki and Tenten, and the crimson-eyed warrior lifted his hand to Force Edge.

The 'man' moved blindingly fast; he just seemed to appear right in-between the two girls, his fists buried in their guts. Naruto had drawn his blade and swept it horizontally in an attempt to decapitate the demon, but the enemy somehow managed to flip over the strike from a standing position, leaving the girls to double-over onto their knees in pain and start coughing up blood. The crimson-eyed warrior brought Force Edge back in a downward arc to strike at the demon's back, but his attack was cut short by the sudden, powerful kick that hit him in the chest and flung him into a nearby tree.

Watching in slight fascination, Naruto picked himself up as the demon expertly fended off attacks from both Kakashi and Gai, blocking, dodging, and even countering the majority of the Jonins' taijutsu. The crimson-eyed warrior stomped on the sudden fit of fear that threatened to lock up his muscles; the only demons that could even assume a human guise were the more powerful (read: more intelligent) high-level demons, and the elites. And the only ones out of those that could move with any sort of comfort in—and actually _fight_ in—human forms were the elites.

The last time Naruto had ever encountered an elite-level demon in battle was the Temin-ni-guru, and Dante had done the vast majority of fighting against them. Naruto's father had said that he wasn't ready to take on demons with that kind of power…

…Was he ready now?

As the demon knocked Kakashi and Gai out of his way, then proceeded to contemptuously slap the other Genin aside while they tried to stop him, gray eyes locked firmly on Tazuna, Naruto realized it didn't matter if he was ready or not. He had a job to do.

Naruto charged at the demon, bringing to bear as much of his own demonic energy as he could, and only now noticing that somewhere along his way to the tree, he had dropped Force Edge. _Well… fuck,_ he thought before he clashed with the new enemy.

Turning swiftly to meet the threat he could feel sprinting at him, the demon only met Naruto's fist as it collided with the monster's face and sent him flying back. Naruto followed as the demon skidded to a stop, and the crimson-eyed warrior crashed into his stunned foe in a flurry of strikes; six swift, strong punched to the stomach were followed by a roundhouse-kick to the side that shattered ribs, an uppercut straight into the demon's face, and then a spinning side-kick at the creature's chest that snapped even more bones—causing many of them to stab the demon in the heart—and sent it hurtling to the ground, where it laid perfectly still.

Staring at the body, taking deep breaths, Naruto began to turn and see to Hananoki and Tenten, when a deep, baritone voice said, "Impressive." Crimson eyes closed for a second in resignation as Naruto looked back to find the demon pulling itself to its feet and casually dusting off its clothes as it added, "But not quite enough."

The demon stared at Naruto and tilted its head slightly to the side. "You put all the power you could muster behind those strikes." It wasn't a question.

"And you put all the smug you muster behind those statements," Naruto countered.

Shrugging, the demon answered, "I was merely stating a fact. You do not have enough power to give me a real challenge." Gray eyes looked slightly to Naruto's left and the demon shook its head, "How like him to leap before he looks."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Tenten asked as she walked up to stand on Naruto's left, while Hananoki stood to the warrior's right. Neither of them looked worse for wear.

"It means that Rastroth overestimated the threat you two pose," the demon stated, shrugging yet again. "The bonding has barely just begun; you control but a mere fraction of the spirits' actual power. And while that is still significant, it is not enough to defeat me." Its eyes turned back to Naruto, and it added, "But you… perhaps there is hope for you yet…"

Naruto blinked owlishly in response for a moment, then said, "Not to turn this into a cliché or anything, but… What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

Smiling now, the demon turned to face Tazuna and said, "I hope you don't mind too much, but I took the liberty of inviting your lovely daughter and her exuberant young man to dinner… an offer they were rather disinclined to refuse. My employer and I hope you can join us all in the manor at your earliest convenience." With that, the creature disappeared in a short burst of flame.

The old man's eyes, widened with horror, stared at the spot the demon had stood upon for a moment before he turned and rushed into his house. Naruto looked and saw Gai speed into the house right after Tazuna, to make sure the client hadn't just run straight into a trap.

Gazing back at the spot the demon had occupied not a minute before, Naruto found himself wishing Dante was with him. His father would undoubtedly carve that guy a new asshole.

Naruto shook his head. He looked at the two standing beside him; Tenten looked like she was distracted by some inner thoughts (probably speaking with her spirit companion); while Hananoki was giving him a worried look. His first instinct was to ask her why she was giving him that look, or just say that he was fine… but as he looked into her beautiful, ocean-deep eyes, Naruto found that he couldn't say anything but, "What if he's right? What if I can't beat him?"

In response, Hananoki took his hand in hers, reached up, and kissed him on the cheek. Then she gestured to Tenten (who was now pointedly looking away) and herself, saying, "Then we'll just have to help you."

* * *

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you go help them," the Hokage told his visitor. "I've sent as many ninja as I can afford to at the moment."

Raiden blinked at him, and while his face remained calm (despite all he'd just been told), the Sandaime watched him grow slightly tenser, his hands clench into fists. "First of all, Hokage-sama," the amethyst-eyed ninja said as respectfully as he could through his anger, "We both know that if I had taken up your offer six years ago, I'd very likely be a Jonin by now. And secondly, I'm sure Malak has already explained my… 'heritage'. I could be an asset to them right now. And for that matter, so could my team. And so could Team Ten. And so could Malak."

"And if I knew how to get you all across the ocean in time to actually make a difference, then I would have sent you all back out already," Sarutobi told the young Hatake. "But as it is, I doubt that even if all ran without stopping to sleep, eat, or just take a breather, you wouldn't reach them in time. If there were a way to fly you all there…" The old Hokage shook his head at the ridiculousness of the very thought of it.

Raiden looked as if he was about to say something to that, but then he just looked down at his clenched fists, and proceeded to take deep, calming breaths until they opened back up, and he was able to fold them onto his lap, in what the Sandaime supposed was some kind of thinking pose. Perhaps he was finally getting through to the young man. While his heart was undoubtedly in the place Sarutobi wanted all of his ninjas' hearts to be, his thoughts were being too clouded by his feelings. And that was always a dangerous state of being for anyone.

"Please know, Raiden, that if there was anything I felt I could do for them, I wouldn't even think about it; it would already be done," he assured the young ninja. "But for now, I would like you to go back home and get some more rest. You just got back from a particularly stressful mission, and certainly more than deserve a break. You'll be the first to know if I find any way to assist your friends."

Nodding and saying, a little distractedly, "Of course. Thank you, Hokage-sama," the amethyst-eyed ninja stood and headed for the door without looking back.

* * *

The bell above the door rang for the second time, announcing the arrival of his third (fourth, if you wanted to be picky) visitor of the day. Malak found himself wondering just how many interruptions the fates were going to offer him today.

"I need to fly to Wave Country," Raiden announced without preamble.

Malak stared blankly at the book in front of him for a moment, marked his page, closed the book, looked up at Raiden (idly noticing that the young ninja had somehow found a scabbard for Alastor, and had belted it to his left hip), and waited for a full minute. When the amethyst-eyed ninja failed to say something along the lines of, 'Just kidding,' or, 'April Fool's', Malak decided that maybe his half-angelic, half-crazy friend was being serious. "Well," the desert-eyed man finally responded, "as the Rolling Stones once said: 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'."

Raiden stared back at Malak, and then proceeded to explain to the golden-eyed man what the Hokage had just told him. What caught Malak's attention the most was that Kakashi had apparently mentioned Naruto speculating as to the presence of an elite demon.

After allowing the young ninja to finish his story, Malak announced, "You need to fly to Wave Country."

"That's a great idea," Raiden agreed. "So where do we start?"

Malak stood, his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes closed, and began pacing around the room (somehow managing to avoid running into anything). "You said running without stopping wouldn't be fast enough?"

"The Hokage didn't seem to think so, and I completely respect his opinion," Raiden responded. He seemed to consider that for a moment before adding, "For the most part."

"Damn…" Malak cursed. "I could think of twenty-seven different ways to give you enough stamina to do that…" The desert-eyed man trailed off as he caught sight of a book on one of his shelves. Thinking furiously, he all but tore the book from its place, flipping the pages until he finally found the pages he was looking for. "Excellent…" he muttered, "…Yes, I can certainly work with this…" His words trailed off into inane mumblings as his mind worked through the formulas and calculations, and he realized he'd need something special to actually pull it off. Closing the book suddenly and turning, he told Raiden, "Bring Ino and Hinata to that training ground you and your team use within the next hour." Raiden looked as if he was about to object, or maybe just ask what the hell Malak was talking about, but the desert-eyed man cut him off with, "Aren't you in a hurry?"

Raiden rushed out the door without a word.

Malak, meanwhile, placed One Thousand and One Nights back in its place and headed down into his lab to get to work.

* * *

Golden power swirling about her, Hananoki reached into the earth with her will, and with a ripping motion of her arm, tore a series of stone spikes from the ground, rapidly tossing them at her opponent.

Tenten, bearing a number of fresh cuts and bruises along with her orange aura, opted to nimbly dodge the earthen projectiles, instead of attempting to destroy them with fireballs this time. When the last missile was just about to pass her, she flicked her wrist and sent a spear of flame soaring at Hananoki, who responded by ripping her arm upwards through the air, tearing a large dirt-and-rock wall from the ground. The searing missile slammed into the barrier of earth and destroyed it in an explosion of heat and granite.

Meanwhile, Hananoki had darted off to the side and was now rushing straight at Tenten. She leapt into the air and brought her fist to bear, ready to slam it into her opponent and end the match, vaguely realizing that she didn't feel quite as strong as she had a moment before.

Crossing her arms and closing her eyes, Tenten almost didn't respond in time. But just as Hananoki was throwing her fist, the air suddenly got cold, Tenten's aura flared, and the hazelnut-eyed girl arched her spine, threw her arms back…

….and exploded.

The eruption of fire and force slammed into Hananoki and threw her back across the clearing like she was a ragdoll. As she was about to crash back onto land, the ocean-eyed girl found her connection to earth returning, and she called out to it in a wordless cry. In response, the ground shifted, and Hananoki landed in the softest patch of soil she could conjure. The impact still hurt, but nearly as much as it could have.

Lifting herself to her feet—after lying stunned on the ground for a moment—she looked over to watch the smoke clear and discover that Tenten looked no different than she had before the explosion, except that she was breathing noticeably heavier.

'**Remember, Hananoki**,' Contero commented within her mind. '**Our power is that of the earth; leaving it without drawing in the power you wish to utilize **_**first**_** can prove… unwise. If you hadn't noticed.**'

_Right,_ Hananoki thought, mentally grinning at her spirit companion. _Suppose it would be a little harder to be connected to the earth when I'm not… you know…. Connected to the earth._

She could feel the old spirit's nod as he said, '**Exactly. We are at a slight disadvantage just because of Exuro's element, even though his power doesn't grant Tenten as many physical benefits as you profit from.**' Apparently Contero knew what she was about to ask, because he continued before she could actually voice her question, '**The element of fire, despite being something not quite as prevalent in nature as earth or wind, is very easy to utilize. You recall that right before Tenten conjured that explosion, it got very cold, yes? That was because she drew in the heat from the air and used it as… fuel, I suppose.**'

_Oh! So, technically, Tenten and Exuro are always connected to their element,_ Hananoki realized. _Unlike you and I._

'**Correct,**' Contero congratulated with a note of pride in his voice. '**Though as our bond grows, you will become able to retain larger and larger amounts of power drawn from the earth; allowing leaping attacks to become a slightly more useful tactic.**'

Hananoki nodded in understanding as Tenten walked over and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good," the ocean-eyed girl responded with a smile.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Tenten said, "Well that's good. I'd hate to have to deal with Naruto if I'd hurt you too badly…" The hazelnut-eyed girl grinned at Hananoki's sudden blush and reflexive glance back at the trail they'd used to find the clearing. "Shall we go see how our favorite demon-hunter is doing?"

Hananoki smiled and nodded, leading the way back through the woods. It took them only a few minutes to reach Tazuna's house, at which point they entered and found Gisei sitting calmly on the sofa in front of the coffee table, playing some kind of solo card game. He said, without preamble (and without looking up), "Kakashi is heading out to the village with Tazuna to try and gather information. Gai is out drilling Neji and Lee. Naruto is upstairs, hopefully asleep."

Tenten blinked at the boy's calm and immediate delivery, but Hananoki just smiled and said, "I'll go make sure Naruto's resting." Smiling now, Gisei just nodded and continued his game, while Tenten sat down next to him and watched, trying to figure out what he was doing.

Making her way upstairs, Hananoki found the only door that was closed, and opened it as quietly as she could to find that Naruto was lying on the bed wide awake, staring out the window with a distant look in his crimson eyes.

"You should be sleeping," the ocean-eyed girl told him softly as she entered fully and shut the door behind her.

As Naruto blinked in surprise and turned to look at her, Hananoki sat next to him on the bed and placed a gentle hand on those of the crimson-eyed warrior, which were folded over his stomach. They stayed like that for a moment before Naruto sat up, wrapped his arms around Hananoki, and confided, "I've never been afraid of anything before. Of fighting. Of demons. Not even… not even dying. But now…"

Closing her eyes, Hananoki returned his embrace and rested her head against his shoulder, giving him her silent support and letting him talk.

"I feel like… Like I suddenly have more to lose," he continued. "Back West, it was just me and Dad—and sometimes Malak—and I always knew that that something bad could happen to any of us. And while that scared me… I don't know. Now I have Raiden, Tenten, Hinata, Ino… and you." His grip tightened as he finally said, "…I'm not ready to let this all go."

Hananoki pulled back a little, gazed into eyes the color of the sky at dawn, said simply, "Then don't," and kissed him.

She felt Naruto tense at first, but then he slowly melted into her and gently kissed her back, sending her heart soaring. In that kiss she felt Naruto's tension ease a sense of calm come over him, and she never wanted the moment to end. When they finally did part, Hananoki and her boyfriend gazed into each other's eyes for a long moment before the ocean-eyed girl gently pushed Naruto back down so that he lay on the bed. Then she nestled her head back against his shoulder and cuddled with him.

The crimson-eyed warrior fell asleep within a couple minutes, and his girlfriend followed soon after, a smile on her face.

* * *

When Raiden finally reached the training ground with Ino and Hinata (both of them informed and grim-faced), he found Malak already waiting for them. The golden-eyed man stood with his back to the three friends, something lying at his feet.

"Excellent!" Malak exclaimed when he turned to greet the three. "You got here even faster than I expected you would! Then you can all be on your way in good order!"

The ninja looked around for a moment, and Ino decided to ask the obvious question, "So… How are we getting there?"

"With _this_!" said the desert-eyed man dramatically as he side-stepped and swept an arm at the ground, showing the ninja… a very large, very ornate rug.

Blinking, Raiden figured it was his turn to be obvious, "That… is a rug. A rug is going to get us to Wave Country?"

Malak looked slightly offended when he declared, "It's not a rug! It's a _carpet_. And—thanks to me—it's _magic_!"

Taking her cue from the ensuing silence, Hinata asked, "…How is a 'magic carpet' going to get us to Wave Country?"

"By going on a 'Magic Carpet Ride' of course!" exclaimed Malak, grinning at some sort of in-joke, apparently. The desert-eyed man blinked, then said, "Magic Carpet Ride'? Aladdin? Disney?... No one?" He gave a defeated sigh and muttered, "You people need to watch more movies…" After taking a moment to compose himself, Malak began to explain, "The magic carpet is going to be the vehicle that flies you all to Wave." He raised a hand to stop the ensuing questions, and continued, "I've got the whole thing set up; everything is in place but the fuel. That, Raiden, is why I asked you to bring Ino; her wind chakra is going to be the fuel." Turning to Hinata, the eccentric man added, "Quite frankly, Ino is the only one we'd _need_ to pull this off… but I assumed that Hinata would be rather angry with us if she were left out of the party."

The young Hyuuga girl smiled and nodded her thanks to Malak for including her.

"Now, Ino, all you'll need to do is channel your wind chakra into the seal there in the front of the carpet, think of the direction you need to go, and the carpet will take care of the rest," the desert-eyed man told the young blonde, as he reached into a pocket and pulled out a little vial of light green liquid. "This little potion of mine is a variation on your ninja's standard 'soldier pill'. I won't lie: the drain on you is going to be _immense_. A normal soldier pill, quite frankly, wouldn't be enough to get you to your destination in the relatively short time-span you have. My little friend here would keep you fully awake and functioning at one-hundred-ten percent for a full week. At the rate you're going to be expending your chakra though… I think you can expect this potion to keep you going for a good twenty-four hours. Not taking into account any fighting you do when you get there, unfortunately."

Ino looked a little pale-faced after Malak's explanation (she'd always thought a soldier pill was excessive… but Malak's potion was just insane!), but her voice remained calm when she said, "Well, that's a lot better than killing myself to get us there; thank you, Malak."

"You're quite welcome, of course," the eccentric man said, handing Ino the potion, which she immediately gulped down. The blonde stood there for a moment looking disgusted, and she said, "Tastes like… that taste you get when you brush your teeth, and drink orange juice… Gross…" Then her eyes widened and she suddenly started shaking and convulsing sporadically.

"Ino!" Raiden shouted as he and Hinata ran up to their friend and tried in vain to hold her in place while her eyes rolled back into her head.

"Oh dear…" muttered Malak. "I hope that's supposed to happen…"

Staring up in shock at the desert-eyed man, Raiden yelled, "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

Malak seemed to consider that for moment, idly wondering why that question sounded so… cliché. He mentally shook himself and said, "Well, I've never gotten the chance to actually test the substance on a human before… All I had available to me was a lab rat."

"And what happened to the rat?" Hinata asked.

"Oh, it died," Malak said far too calmly for the situation. "But I've diluted the formula… Should be suitable for human consumption. Maybe she's allergic to orange juice… or perhaps the tooth paste…"

Ino suddenly stopped convulsing; the shakes subsided a moment later. For a moment she even stopped breathing, but before Raiden or Hinata could feel too worried, the blonde gasped, her eyes flying open as she leapt from her friends' arms. "Whatrewewaitingfor?" she shouted at them almost incomprehensibly. "!" The young blonde was now jumping up and down on the rug, her eyes way too wide to be healthy.

"See, she's fine!" Malak assured Raiden and Hinata. "A tad excitable, but that's to be expected, considering how much energy she's just been given!"

The two non-hyper ninjas stepped carefully onto the rug. As Ino shouted, "Finally!" and kneeled at the front of the carpet to give it power, Malak said to Raiden, "You may want to get ready to utilize that lightning chakra of yours; it's gonna be a hell of a ride."

Eyes widening in comprehension as the carpet suddenly rose up _way_ too high above the treetops for Raiden to feel comfortable, he knelt—pulling Hinata down with him—placed a hand on the back of each of his female companions, focused his power the keep all of them statically clung to the fur of the carpet.

"ToWave!" Ino called to the carpet. The magic carpet and its three young passengers shot towards their destination at an unimaginable speed.

As the scenery below blurred past them, it finally hit Raiden: they were _flying_. He was _flying_!

Despite the howling of the wind, the nauseating speed, and the focus required to keep the three of them stuck to their vessel, Raiden found that he couldn't keep the grin off of his face.

* * *

"That… that's so horrible…" Hananoki said quietly, bowing her head. Naruto put a comforting arm around his girlfriend and pulled her close, but his face remained serious and calm as he gazed at Kakashi and waited for the sensei to finish.

"…nothing survived the attack. Every single one of the buildings had been burnt out; not a single item to scavenge." Kakashi bowed his head as he finished, "Not a single person left to save."

"That's not true!" Tazuna suddenly shouted. At the looks of the group, "My family! If nothing else, you must save Tsunami and Inari! Please, I beg of you!"

The one-eyed Jonin assured their client, "Of course we'll do everything can to help…"

Kakashi kept talking, but Naruto ceased paying attention. His nose had started twitching, and after a moment of concentrating on it, he realized what was irritating his nostrils: He smelled blood… _familiar_ blood.

Lots of it.

Pulling himself from Hananoki and standing, he walked briskly to the door, grabbing Force Edge from where it had been leaning against the side of the sofa, and opened the portal, more than ready for a fight.

…But not quite ready for the sight that greeted him instead.

The ice-wielding hunter-nin that had nearly killed Tenten kneeled a few feet from the door, practically bathed in blood that wasn't all his own, barely holding a completely limp Zabuza Momochi to his breast. But what caught Naruto off-guard was that the hunter-nin's mask was cracked in several places, that Zabuza's sword was nowhere in sight, that the hunter-nin and Zabuza both were covered from head to foot with cuts, bruises, and blood…

…And that Zabuza's entire right arm had been torn off.

"Please… please…" breathed the hunter-nin, his voice ragged. "… Help… please… Zabuza… sama…" He collapsed over his master, whatever energy he'd used to get to Tazuna's house expended.

The others had at some point come up behind Naruto, but again, whatever they said was lost on the young demon-hunter. He bolted forward, grabbed up the two missing-nin, and then leapt back, narrowly avoiding the bolt of yellow lightning that struck the ground right where the ninja had been lying.

"A pity… it would have been so much easier if the mini-Kyuubi hadn't moved the damn targets…" lamented a bored-sounding voice.

Naruto rose, leaving the missing-nin lying at the feet of Kakashi and Gai (who was now giving the warrior strange looks) and stepped out to meet the three visitors: Rastroth, the elite demon, and a newcomer; a man just a little shorter than the elite, a mohawk of dark blonde hair, a nose ring, a black, Metallica tanktop, black cargo pants, and black combat boots.

"Very true, Loralt," the elite demon agreed. He gave Naruto an appraising glance, and then glanced at the space to Naruto's right. The crimson-eyed warrior glanced over and found Hananoki holding her warhammer in a battle-ready position. Looking behind himself, Naruto found Tenten, Kakashi, and Gisei standing in front of a closed door. "Guard duty," Tenten explained.

Naruto had barely finished nodding his head before the elite demon said, "Kill them," and vanished in a burst of flame.

Rastroth screamed in a way that eerily reminded Naruto of pleasure, as the demon erupted into a vortex of flame. When the tornado halted, the high-level demon had revealed his true form: that of an efreet, an eight-foot tall, red-skinned creature with the torso and head of a human, and a lower body composed entirely of a tail of flame. He also now wielded a giant, glowing-orange, steel greataxe.

Loralt, however, didn't bother to shift into his demon form. He merely sighed, muttered, "The things I do to make a living…" and disappeared in a flash of yellow lightning and a crash of thunder.

Eyes widening, Naruto realized that if Loralt hadn't shifted into demon form to fight… _He's an elite too!_

Because of that mere instant of hesitation, Naruto's world nearly ended that day.

A series of resounding booms sounded right next to Naruto, and by the time he looked, Hananoki was on one knee, covered in bruises. He reached down to help her back up, to get her out of the way, to do _something_, when a crash of thunder sounded behind him and something like a sledgehammer hit him in the back of the head, then his gut, then the side of his head, and then in his lower back, sending him sprawling onto Hananoki. He ended up on top of her, her ocean eyes staring into his…

And then something plunged into his back…

Then out through his chest…

Hananoki sucked in a sudden, startled breath…

She whispered, "Naruto…"

And then her eyes glazed over.

Naruto realized what was happening. Something in him wanted to cry out, to say that this couldn't be happening. Something in him just wanted to stop, to give up…

But something else just snapped.

Someone, somewhere roared with a primal rage that should never exist within the mortal realm.

Naruto's world turned red.

* * *

Kakashi had been there when the Kyuubi attacked. He'd spoken with the Yondaime and Dante about demons at great length. He'd even battled demons himself. But none of that could have prepared him for this day.

In retrospect, he didn't think that _anything_ could've prepared him for the unbridled power he was to witness.

He'd barely even blinked, and Naruto suddenly lay on top of Hananoki, both of them covered in bruises, the demon Loralt standing over the two of them, having at some point taken Naruto's broadsword, Force Edge.

Loralt lifted the blade and plunged it through the hearts of both of his prone students in the same, brutal motion. Then the demon turned to fire-creature, Rastroth, and said, "Finish the rest of them, would you? I'm beat." And he disappeared in a bolt of lightning.

"_Yes_!" Rastroth yelled loudly. "Now I…"

Kakashi didn't hear the rest of the demon's rambling; he was too busy feeling his blood run cold as he watched the life drain from Hananoki's eyes.

And then he realized that Naruto had just watched the same thing… And that he had recently begun to care a great deal about the ocean-eyed girl…

Kakashi, Tenten, and Gisei were thrown against the walls of the house and held there by the tremendous explosion of raw demonic power and unbridled _rage_ that emanated from Naruto as he tore himself from Hananoki, Force Edge still lodged in his own torso, his eyes now pure, blood-red orbs.

**_"HHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAANNNNNAAAAA!"_**

The primal scream of anger and pain summoned a pillar of blood-red energy that engulfed the young man. At its summit, the pillar took shape of an enormous, demonic fox head that had taken up the roar for its summoner, amplifying it a thousand times over. Then the face suddenly looked straight down and rushed back to the earth, where it crashed and exploded into blinding red light.

When Kakashi could see again, he knew he looked upon Naruto's own demonic form.

Naruto's entire body was now plated with a strong-looking, black material, veins of blood-red criss-crossing around the entirety of the 'armor', and he now stood upon digitigrade legs (like those of a fox), slightly elongated arms that ended in lethal claws extending from a naturally hunched over torso that held up the head of a demonic fox made of the same material that now covered the rest of his body, his fangs gleaming in the same light that glinted off of the two dark-red horns that bent back from the top of his head like two fox ears.

As the blood-eyed demon stood over Hananoki, he blinked (the gesture strangely human) and seemed to give himself a once over. Naruto narrowed his eyes, turned to the three ninja present outside, and growled, his voice deep, gravely, and bestial, "Gisei. Heal her." When the red-haired youth hesitated for a moment, the demon barked, "Now!"

Gisei suddenly rushed to comply, green medical chakra covering his hands as soon as he kneeled down beside the prone Hananoki.

"Dante will need to hear about this as soon as we get back," Kakashi mumbled to himself, still in awe of the power pouring endlessly from Naruto.

"Who needs to hear about what now?" Tenten asked numbly, obviously in shock.

Kakashi gave her a sidelong glance and vaguely elaborated, "Naruto's just awakened his Devil Trigger."

* * *

Finally noticing the blade still stuck through his chest, Naruto put an armored hand (paw?) over the tip of the sword, and gave it a quick shove; a shove that propelled the weapon backwards a good twenty feet, well out of reach. Then he turned to Rastroth, the efreet, glaring at the monster with glowing, blood-red orbs.

"No…" muttered the fire demon, "…no… no fair! It wasn't…" Rastroth suddenly grew angry, brought his greataxe to bear, and flew at Naruto, shouting, "I'll still kill you all!" He swung the massive weapon down upon the blood-eyed demon…

…And Naruto casually caught the blade of the axe in the palm of his left hand, tore the axe from Rastroth's grip, and plunged his right hand through the fire demon's stomach, then promptly tore it back out, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of the creature.

Rastroth screamed in agony, and began to flail at Naruto and try to bit him down; but each strike just seemed to bounce off the thick, armored hide of Naruto's demonic form.

"Now," the blood-eyed demon growled, "you die." In an instant, Naruto had taken ahold of Rastroth's arms, and then had ripped both limbs from their sockets. As the fire-demon again cried out in pain, Naruto's right hand took a firm grip on Rastroth's face, and proceeded to pop the demon's head right off its shoulders.

Gazing at the head for a moment, the demonic warrior casually tossed the 'trophy' aside as it disintegrated into an orange cloud. Naruto then looked down at Gisei and asked, as quietly as he could with his current voice, "Is she going to be okay?"

The red-haired ninja nodded his head distractedly, saying, "It seems that spirit inside her staved off the worst of the damage by somehow hardening her heart. The blade still nicked it, but he's also been keeping the bleeding at bay, and I've fixed most of the actual wounds. A little bit longer, and all she'll need to worry about is resting."

Naruto nodded his fox-like head, growling, "Good."

And then, in a flash of crimson light, Naruto reverted back into his human form and collapsed.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I know what some of you may be thinking: 'Naruto got his Devil Trigger already? He's going to be so overpowered!' So allow me, the author, to assure you: No. No he's not. Trust me on this one; our heroes' are going to need every advantage they can possibly get to combat what I'm going to be throwing at them. And as a side note: I reserve the right to make changes to DMC Devil Arms as I see fit (like I did with Alastor). Some of these changes may at first seem significant, but I promise I will not be altering the real essence of the Devil Arms themselves. Mostly just the aesthetics. Anyway, review if you feel like it!

P.S: If there are any artists reading this, and you're not too busy with other projects, I would LOVE if someone could draw me a picture of how you see Raiden... Or Malak... Or my version of Naruto... Or any of the others for that matter! I hate to ask this of random people, but I am completely inept at any form of drawing, and while I have my own images of the characters stored safely in my head, I would really enjoy seeing someone put them on paper. Please send me a PM if you're interested.


	11. Chapter 10

**Author's Notes:** Yet another chapter finally completed! Hoozah!... Ahem… Anyway, please read, enjoy, and all that good stuff.

* * *

_**Chapter 10 – The Not-So-Calm Before The Storm**_

"Rastroth always was an arrogant fool," Loralt commented as he watched the young half-demon rip apart the aforementioned efreet. "But at least he was useful as an enforcer. Did we really have to throw him away like that?"

His master turned to him behind their magic veil and stated, "I did not throw him away. He acted as our shield." He turned back to watch through the trees as the other ninja carried Naruto and his woman back inside the house. "If he had not had an enemy to focus his rage upon, he would have been able to track us through this hasty veil. And then he would have fought… and he would have died. He needs time to adjust to his new state of being; only then will he present me with the challenge I have so long sought."

Loralt sighed at his leader's little speech. "Of course, Master Ifrit…"

* * *

"How long has he been like this?" Hananoki asked with concern, staring down at her boyfriend.

Tenten answered, "Almost twenty-four hours now… Only a couple of hours longer than you." She shook her head. "I still can't believe Naruto's…"

The hazelnut-eyed girl trailed off at the end, but Hananoki felt that she could safely assume what Tenten was referring to; after all, Hananoki may have already known about Naruto being a half-demon, but Kakashi (in response to a questioning Gai) was the first to mention that Naruto's demonic half was courtesy of the Kyuubi. _I can't imagine why he wouldn't want to mention it to a ninja of _Konoha_, of all places…_ she thought as she gently placed a hand on the crimson-eyed warrior's forehead. "His fever's gone, at least."

Nodding, Tenten commented, "Gisei said that he couldn't do anything about it because there was nothing physically wrong with him… Do you think it had something to do with the awakening of his demonic side?"

Hananoki tried to ask Contero what he thought, but failed to get a response; she'd forgotten that he was still resting. Through Tenten, Exuro had explained that Contero had utilized his power without channeling it through Hananoki's mind first, and that using as much power as he had in that way had left him drained, and that he would be 'resting' for a day or two. So instead of conferring with the knowledgeable spirit, the ocean-eyed girl merely stated, "That would be my best guess."

"Sorry to disturb you both," apologized a voice behind the two girls.

As they turned around, Gisei told them, "Kakashi and Gai ask that you both come to the prisoners' room. The younger one has woken up."

Together the three walked to the bedroom where they had tied up the two missing-nin that had been working for Gato. When they entered, they found Kakashi in the midst of an interrogation.

"That's not how this works. See: you can't heal Zabuza. We can. And we will… _if_ you give us the information we want," Kakashi was saying. "Tell us about Gato's hideout, Haku, and we'll fix up your master."

The surprisingly-young boy Haku answered, "I cannot give you that kind of information without Zabuza-sama's consent; he was the one who took the job, not me. I'm sure if you would just heal him enough so that he could wake up—not all the way to fighting condition, and keeping us both tied to these beds—he would be quite willing to part with this knowledge, considering how Gato decided to… 'release' us."

"If you are so sure about that," Gai chimed in, "then why don't you just tell us, boy? Get it over with so we can heal up Zabuza."

"I've already told you why," Haku said.

Hananoki and Tenten, by this time, were standing off to the side with Gisei, Neji, and Rock Lee, not quite sure how they were supposed to help. Going back and forth, Haku and the Jonins kept arguing for another ten minutes before Hananoki decided that a maybe a show of strength might help get the boy to talk.

Then Naruto walked in, and the entire room seemed to freeze.

Immediately, Hananoki noticed the way he moved: that subtle, bestial grace with which he seemed to perform every motion was far more pronounced than it had ever been, giving him the air of a hungry predator looking for its next victim. She also noticed that he had forgone his jacket (probably because it had a hole in it now) and the gray T-shirt, and had put on a tight-fitting, black tanktop (adorned with the letters 'ACDC', the first two separated from the other two by a lightning bolt) over muscles that had somehow become even more defined than before.

And more than that, he now carried with him a nearly palpable aura of _power_.

Without a word to his comrades, the crimson-eyed warrior stalked up to the bed that Haku had been tied to and looked the boy right in the eyes. "I'd suggest you tell the nice, powerful, fully-armed Jonins what they'd like to know," Naruto said quietly to the ice-wielder. It looked as if Haku was about to refuse yet again…

Suddenly, Hananoki's breath was driven from her lungs, her muscles locked up, and the very air seemed to press down upon her as a completely instinctual, primal _terror_ exploded within her. She needed to move, needed to _run_, to get the hell out of there, but her body just wouldn't _respond_, and…

Just as spontaneously as it had come, the overwhelming fear vanished, and her legs nearly buckled in relief. When she returned her gaze to Naruto and Haku, she found the crimson-eyed warrior standing just as he had been before, as if nothing had happened; the ice-wielder, on the other hand, was laying there with eyes wide and glazed over, suffering a fit of sporadic shakes. As the fits died down, and Haku's eyes finally began to focus back on reality, Naruto asked, in exactly the same tone as before, "Are you quite sure you don't want to cooperate?"

The young missing-nin stared in shock and horror at Naruto for almost a full minute. Then Haku turned his head with visible effort to look at his wounded master; finally, he settled his wide-eyed, terrified gaze on Kakashi and said, "I…I'll…tell you…just…please heal Zabuza-sama… after…"

It took a moment for Hananoki to register what had just happened; Naruto had utilized his 'ki', his killing intent, and had actually _focused_ it on Haku. If what her and the other Leaf ninja had been affected with was little more than a side-effect, an unavoidable leaking of power that had flowed out from the focal point…

Hananoki shuddered at the mere thought of the horror that Haku must have experienced.

"Of course…" Kakashi told him distractedly as he watched Naruto stalk back out of the room. The one-eyed Jonin turned and looked at Hananoki with a raised eyebrow.

Taking the cue from her sensei, the ocean-eyed girl hurried out the door to speak with the crimson-eyed warrior.

* * *

The scythe effortlessly took the head from the creature, the cranium rolling away as the rest of the corpse dropped limply into a senseless heap.

Sighing, Malak twirled the black-shafted, silver-bladed scythe around until it had shifted back into its cane form. Then he considered the corpse of the slain demon; a pile of brown, greasy feathers and blackened claws, the head shaped exactly like an owl's, save for the red, insect-like eyes. He shook his head at the waste.

_Good information is getting harder and harder to come by_, the eccentric man considered. He turned and walked away from the summoning circle he'd painted in his rather large basement as the demon's carcass disintegrated, as was the way with creatures from the Demon Realm killed in the Mortal Plane, rethinking his position on the subject. _Perhaps the old bird was a source of good information after all…_

That was, of course, if you could call news about the second coming of Mundus 'good' in any sense of the word.

Becoming more disturbed as he thought about it, Malak decided that the fact that one of his most cultured, reliable informants had been turned into a rabid, nonsensical zealot was in absolutely no way 'good'.

The golden-eyed man shook his head, clearing such disconcerting thoughts from his mind as he grabbed his duster and bowler hat. After all, he had no time for such petty things as 'being moderately frightened'. Now his plans would have to be moved up a notch or three … and that meant only one thing; one thing that made Malak smirk in anticipation…

_There's work to be done!_

_

* * *

_

"I think that went well, all things considered," Raiden thought out loud as Hinata puked her guts out a couple yards away from him, having run over to a group of bushes as soon as they'd landed.

Ino shot the amethyst-eyed ninja a slightly-fatigued, dirty look from where she was kneeling, rubbing Hinata's back.

Raiden looked indignant. "What?" he questioned. "I said, 'all things considered'. Personally, I'm still surprised we managed to avoid splattering into that small mountain… or that particularly large tree… or that flock of sparrows… or…"

Now it was Ino who looked indignant (adding a nice, red blush to the look). "It was my first time! And it all happened so quickly…" As Raiden's mouth slowly curled up at the ends, Ino threw in, "And I swear: If you say, 'that's what she said', I'm going to castrate you. Slowly. _Very_ slowly."

Raising his hands in a conciliatory gesture, Raiden backed off the subject… albeit with a rather large grin on his face. "So this is Wave Country," he said instead, looking around at the woods that surrounded the road, as well as the little lake off to the side. "Something about it reminds me of home…"

"Hm…" Ino seemed to consider the statement for a moment, looking around herself. "Really? All the greens and browns seem pretty foreign to me."

The amethyst-eyed ninja responded, "Yeah, those different shades can really throw a person off at first," and pulled out his storage scroll to seal the magic carpet. As he did so, something about the forest caught his attention. "Ino," he said seriously. "Listen."

She gave him a strange look for a moment, and then did as Raiden had said. After a few seconds, she said, "I don't hear anything…" Her eyes widened in realization. Ino really didn't hear _anything_. That would never happen in the middle of a road surrounded by forest and those that inhabited it.

Finally recovering, Hinata brought herself to her feet with a little help from Ino, and then stood under her own power. Without being asked to do so, she activated her Byakugan and the young Hyuuga's white eyes widened immediately. Hinata pulled Ino with her as she ran to Raiden's side, shouting, "We're surrounded!"

Then the demons attacked.

* * *

"Naruto?" said Hananoki as she walked into the bedroom. She had barely taken two steps when her boyfriend, having managed to cross the whole room without a sound, wrapped her in a tight, warm embrace and kissed her fiercely.

Allowing herself to put aside the actual reason she had come looking for Naruto in the first place, Hananoki kissed him back just as passionately. After a minute they finally parted, and the crimson-eyed warrior laid his head down on her shoulder, holding her close and savoring her presence. "I thought I was going to lose you," Naruto told Hananoki quietly.

The ocean-eyed girl tightened her arms around the crimson-eyed warrior and said softly, "I'm okay, Naruto. I'm right here with you." She moved a hand and gently lifted Naruto's head so that she could gaze into his dawn-colored eyes, asking, "The others told me what happened… what you did. Are _you_ alright?" Hananoki was aware of how much Naruto hated his own demonic heritage, and—while she had spoken with him, telling her boyfriend that it didn't matter that he was half-demon or not—she wasn't sure how well Naruto would handle awakening his full demon side.

"I'm fine," he said easily… and to her slight surprise (and pride), Hananoki could tell that he meant that. Naruto reached out and closed the door behind his girlfriend, then, releasing her from his grip, walked over to the bed. Picking up his ruined jacket, he finished undoing the harness that held Force Edge and proceeded to attach the makeshift sheath around his tanktop. As he did so, Hananoki sat on the bed next to where he was standing and said, "The way you spoke about your demonic heritage… I wasn't sure how well you'd take it."

Taking a few moments to finish strapping on the harness and consider his answer, Naruto finally responded, "I once asked Dante how he could bear to use his power when he hated its source so much. He told me: 'It doesn't matter where my power comes from. What matters is how I use it." The crimson-eyed warrior turned and stared out the room's window, giving Hananoki a view of his profile as he stated, his voice boldly confident and grimly determined, "I feel stronger, faster, healthier, and more _alive_ than I've ever been before. My well of demonic power has opened to a new, seemingly limitless depth…" Crimson eyes narrowed, "And I'm going to harness every ounce of it. And I'm going to end this. For Tazuna and his family. For all the people slaughtered by these monsters. For the rest of Wave Country… And because they tried to kill you. I'm going to destroy them."

Hananoki stared up at the demon-hunter in a mixture of awe, pride, and love. She wanted to say something to him, to tell him that she would be right there with him when the time came, but before the ocean-eyed girl could open her mouth, Naruto's ears twitched and his nostrils flared.

The crimson-eyed warrior snorted and muttered, "You want a demonstration, do you?" Turning around and stalking out of the room, he added, "Then let the show begin."

* * *

The large, bug-sack-like demon leapt at the pale-eyed Hyuuga girl, but the creature moved far too slowly to catch the lithe Hinata; the monster's arm-blade swept diagonally at her, but she merely leaned to the side, hit the demon's flank with a chakra-throwing palm-strike, and then finished the creature with a similar strike to its chest. Turning, Hinata's foot lashed out and struck another of the bug-bags square in its ugly, little head, sending the creature crashing into two of its companions, its blade-arm actually managing to cut one of the other demons down.

Thankful for the brief chance to breathe, Hinata tried to take a moment to assess the situation of her friends, but was suddenly assaulted by one of the lizard-like demon. Swinging its claws in a brutal attempt to rip her face off, the creature drove the pale-eyed girl back across the battlefield to the edge of the lake. Hinata tried to fend off the monster, but every time she risked a counterattack the lizard-demon either blocked the strike with its small shield or swiped a sharp claw at the offending hand, forcing Hinata to disengage lest her arm get torn to shreds.

As she reached the water's edge, she took a gamble and ran backwards, utilizing the water-walking technique she'd learned a month or two ago; the young Hyuuga hoped that the lizard-thing would be reluctant to follow her into the lake.

And she was very quickly disappointed.

Lunging through the air, the creature closed the distance in a mere second. Hinata had attempted to prepare a water-element jutsu, but was too slow.

The demon drove her underwater, slashing at its victim the whole way down.

* * *

Ino rushed towards the lake, intent on helping Hinata as the young Hyuuga backpedaled away from one of the lizard-like demons. She had to skid to a stop, though, as one of the giant-spider creatures got in her way. It swiped a sickle-bladed arm at the crystal-eyed girl, who jumped back just in time to avoid the strike.

As she landed, Ino flicked both of her wrists at the spider-demon, causing her two steel fans to eject a mini-gale of wind blades. The small storm blew into the monster, cutting it a hundred different times; and although none of the wounds were very serious the demon screamed in rage and flung itself at the young, blonde girl.

Just as Ino had wanted.

She focused completely on the sharpened, steel fan in her left hand, and—when the demon had reached the apex of its leap—swung the bladed weapon straight up. A single, thin blade of wind lashed out at the spider-creature… and cleft the demon perfectly in half. But just as Ino allowed herself to think that she'd won, a large number of miniature bugs burst from the opened halves of the demon's corpse and fell upon the unprepared ninja.

Some of the creatures latched onto the fan in her upraised, left hand; and devoured the steel of the weapon almost instantly. Instinctively, the crystal-eyed girl dropped her second fan while the rest of the disgusting maggots landed atop her. The insects chewed through clothing and skin with equal ease, and Ino screamed in agony. For a few moments, she attempted to tear the monsters from her flesh, but every time she did, the creature took another chunk of flesh with it. It didn't take long before Ino collapsed, the combination of blood loss, fatigue from the earlier flight, and pure pain proving too much for her.

As the tiny demons tore through her skin and made their way to muscle, Ino had a mere moment to wonder if this was really how she was going to die before a sudden rush of power flowed through her. Just as quickly as it had come, the power burst from her body in a violent gust of wind that flung the insects from her and cut them down at the same time.

All the while, her wounds closed, her vitality returned with more force than she'd thought possible, and she leapt to her feet to gaze in awe at the emerald-green aura of power now encompassing her body…

And then the lake erupted into a tower of water and ice.

* * *

Although she flailed and struggled against the lizard-demon, its demonic strength proved far too much for the pale-eyed girl. After tearing open her stomach and sending a pulse of searing agony through the body of the young Hyuuga, the monster took ahold of her arms and brought its powerful jaw to bear.

Hinata opened her mouth in a silent scream as the creature bit into the joint of her neck and shoulder, sure that she would either drown in the lake water, or in her own blood.

To her great surprise, when she was physically unable to keep herself from gasping in agony, she found that the breath came just easily as it would have above water.

And—supposedly since she wasn't yet baffled enough—the water around her… 'stirred', and suddenly the lizard-demon was completely frozen in ice.

The lake stirred again, and a strange power flowed from it into Hinata's torn body, giving her the strength to pull herself from the frozen monster's grip, and then rapidly healing her wounds afterwards.

'**Greetings, young one**,' said a gentle, motherly voice within the pale-eyed girl's mind. An image of a large, long dragon (A/N: think Oriental style) covered in glacier-white scales with veins of sky-blue running in between the scales and into eyes of the same color flashed through her head, and Hinata wondered what the hell was going on.

The voice spoke again, '**I apologize for the suddenness of my appearance, young Hinata, but I found it rather necessary; you were in mortal danger, after all**.'

It took her a moment to realize the implications of what the entity had said, but Hinata finally thought, _You're the source of that power! Um… thank you… uh…._

'**Call me Amnis, child**,' the voice told the young Hyuuga. '**I realize you may wish for an explanation, but I'd like to ask you to wait until we've wiped out the rest of these demonic scum.**' Cold, calm power flowed through Hinata once more as Amnis added, '**Mine is the power of winter and water; follow my instructions, and together we shall rid you and your friends of these pests**.'

Paying rapt attention, Hinata reached out to the lake's water and began bending it to her will. A pale, blue aura surrounded the young Hyuuga as she lifted the entirety of the liquid up in a screaming torrent. She rose with it, and suddenly found herself looking through the cold pillar down upon a small horde of demons, Ino off to the side, bringing herself to her feet as Raiden—his eyes glowing, amethyst electricity dancing across the blades of his butterfly swords—fought with a deadly grace and speed that Hinata had never seen him utilize before. Trapped in the very middle of the gathered monsters, the young ninja not only fended off those that came too close, but actually slaughtered a good number of them.

'**Your friend is quite powerful, but I see no reason we cannot contribute to the victory**,' Amnis commented with the mental equivalent of a grin. With Amnis' instruction, Hinata began systematically taking small strands from the pillar of water, freezing them into sharpened ice-spears, and then hurling them at demons with nigh-perfect accuracy (thanks to her Byakugan).

The sudden rain of icicles caused death and confusion among the demonic ranks, and Raiden, although he seemed to be just as baffled (even more so when he looked up and saw that Hinata was the orchestrator of the raining death), immediately capitalized of the situation by putting both of his blades in one hand, sheathing them into a single scabbard on his right hip, and grabbing ahold of Alastor's hilt. Violet lighting now surged across his demonic katana he cried out, "**Glimpse of Oblivion**!"

The amethyst-eyed ninja's entire body became a blur as he ran straight through the demonic horde, short, sharp flashes of silver and amethyst appearing around anything and everything in his path. When it ended, Raiden was standing next to Ino, fluidly re-sheathing Alastor. An instant later, all of the demons between where he'd been a moment before and his new position, spurted blood and ichor, collapsed, then dissolved into nothingness.

Not to be left out, Ino (an emerald aura now surrounding her) gathered power into her last steel-fan, and began waving it around at the remaining demons. The strokes of her weapon manipulated the air around the monsters, stunning, stumbling, and cutting the monsters, sometimes killing them outright, but mostly making them easier targets for Hinata's hail of spears.

After a few moments of her more gentle manipulation of the creatures, Ino decided to finish the battle herself: taking her fan in both hands, she held the weapon aloft—above her head—for a moment, and then swung down with as much force the emerald-glowing-eyed girl could muster. The resulting gale formed with a few emerald strands of light that sliced through the remaining demons like tissue paper.

The battle finished, Hinata let the water carry her and gently set her upon the ground near her friends before returning to the lake.

* * *

'**Well, that was fun**!' Procella exclaimed within Ino's mind. The crystal-eyed girl couldn't help but sigh at the entity's exuberance, although she wasn't exactly surprised; when it (or more appropriately, 'she', judging by the voice) had first spoken to the young blonde, Ino had found herself imagining a small, gray-furred flying squirrel, with veins of emerald-green light running around its skin, and originating from its similarly-colored eyes. Squirrels had always seemed to be very excitable…

Watching as Hinata approached, Ino noticed that her friend was bathed in a sky-blue aura that emitted a power similar to what she had been utilizing with Procella. "So… I take it you've got a voice in your head too?"

Her usually-pale eyes now shining blue, the young Hyuuga merely nodded in response, apparently still just as surprised about the turn of events as Ino felt. Then, eyeing the object in Ino's hand, Hinata asked, "I don't suppose your new friend could explain what happened to your fan, could it?"

Blinking, the young blonde examined her steel-fan… and found it had been changed rather drastically. The nine, iron-grey spokes were now shaped like a hawk's feathers and shined a bright silver; the seals that Raiden and Kakashi had helped her imbue upon the weapon now lined in emerald; and the wooden circle that was used to grip the weapon was now a light-green color, the kanji for 'gale' carved into it on both sides.

Off to the side, Raiden lightheartedly quipped, "I love not knowing what's going on…" When Ino turned to stick her tongue out at him, she found that the amethyst-eyed ninja had his back turned to her and Hinata, his gaze on the clouds above them.

"Um, Raiden?" spoke Hinata. "Is something wrong?"

The young half-angel coughed into one of his hands and merely muttered in response, "Dammit, she'd kill me for even thinking about glancing…"

Ino and Hinata blinked uncomprehendingly, before realizing that, for some reason, it seemed a little breezier than it had before the skirmish with the demons. The pair of girls looked down at their clothes… or rather, what was left of them. To their dismay, they found that the attacks they'd suffered at the claws and teeth of the monsters had torn up quite a bit of their shirts; enough to reveal a good portion of their upper torsos. Once they had grasped that reality, the girls swiftly wrapped their arms around their breasts, and blushed for all they were worth.

"I think I'm going to let you both, ah… take a break," Raiden commented, still without looking at them (mercifully). "I'll go up the road a bit and let you both have some quiet time to relax, or stretch, or change clothes, or something like that."

With that, the thoroughly embarrassed boy left the thoroughly embarrassed girls to themselves.

* * *

Naruto stepped out of the safety of Tazuna's home, and was greeted by the sight of two packs of assaults surrounding a furiataurus.

"Another one?" Hananoki exclaimed from behind him.

A fighting grin growing on his face, the crimson-eyed warrior drew Force Edge… and shoved it halfway into the ground. "Good. I've been out for a while; could use a nice little warm-up."

One of the twenty assaults apparently lost its patience and charged Naruto, its shielded arm raised as if daring the young demon-hunter to attack.

Naruto was happy to oblige.

Stepping forward and twisting his hips, the crimson-eyed warrior slammed his right fist into the assault's upraised shield; the blow snapped the arm in two, carried the demon's claw right into its own face, and still had enough force left over to crush the creature's skull into paste. The headless body flew limply back towards its companions and dissolved.

The ensuing silence was broken after a few moments by the roar of the furiataurus and the rush of the nineteen remaining assaults.

Seven of the lizard-demons lunged at Naruto at once, intent on devouring the uppity demon-hunter. The crimson-eyed warrior responded by moving to the side too fast to be followed even by the predators' eyes and shouting, "**Kick Thirteen**!" Demonic energy gathered tight around his feet, Naruto lashed out at the nearest assault's kneecap, obliderating the appendage; the next kick hit the back of its head, shattering its skull. His follow-up straight side-kick was deflected (not blocked) with a shield-arm, but Naruto merely used the momentum to launch a spin-kick that crashed into the demon's ribs and sent it flying.

The next assault that came at the crimson-eyed warrior, was met by a staggering thrust kick to its shielded arm, and a skull-breaking front-snap-kick to the jaw. Another demon tried to attack from under the monster that was now sailing into the air and was rewarded by getting its spine crushed by an axe-kick. Naruto then kicked the shattered corpse at the other three assaults; while two of them dashed off to the sides, the third leapt nimbly over the projectile, heading straight for the demon-hunter. Deciding that he would like to prove that he too was nimble, Naruto took a step and flipped forward, curling his left leg while keeping his right extended; the outstretched foot crunched right into the airborne creature's face and flung it in the opposite direction.

As the crimson-eyed warrior executed his killer stunt, he noticed that the last two assaults of the little group were charging at him from both sides. So as Naruto was about to land, the demon-hunter caught himself on his hands and flung his legs around in a circle (lifting his hands when necessary), catching both assaults' legs and sweeping them out from under the monsters. Coming full circle, Naruto slid onto his back and thrust his feet up just as the two demons were passing over him; the strikes caught both assaults in the chest and demolished their rib cages, along with their hearts. The creatures dissolved into nothingness even as they flew into the atmosphere.

Leaping to his feet, Naruto was just in time to see the other twelve assaults rushing for him, eager for their try at the demon-hunter. _Alright then, no time for anything too fancy,_ the crimson-eyed warrior told himself.

Without even bothering to gather any demonic chakra, Naruto methodically wiped out the rest of the lizard-demons by relying fully upon the supernatural strength and speed that had awakened with his Devil Trigger. A rib-breaking kick; a skull-shattering uppercut; an organ-crushing punch; the crimson-eyed warrior swept aside the mid-level demons as one would an annoying fly until all that was left was the furiataurus.

The high-level demon let out a challenging roar and brought its oversized warhammer down upon the demon-hunter…

A shockwave of pure force bore a small crater into the ground when Naruto stopped the blow with his outstretched hand. The crimson-eyed warrior ripped the weapon from the grip of the stunned furiataurus, took ahold of the handle with both hands, and proceeded to smash the demon into pieces with its own hammer.

Tossing aside the now-dissolving weapon, Naruto turned around and walked back towards the house. He ignored the stares from most of the ninjas that had gathered around Hananoki in favor of Kakashi's.

"I take it Haku finished talking?" At Kakashi's nod, the demon-hunter stated, "Today: we plan. Tomorrow: this ends."

* * *

"Well… that was fun," Malak muttered, wiping dust and ash from his clothes as a swirling red-and-orange portal closed behind him. "Why don't I take trips through the Demon Realm more often?"

"An intruder!" snarled a voice nearby.

The eccentric man quirked an eyebrow at the lizard-like demon that was surging across the room (knocking dishes and their contents from the long table as he did so), and casually presented the palm of his right hand.

A strange, white spear suddenly shot from Malak's sleeve and impaled the monster's shoulder, slamming it back across the room and pinning it to a wall.

"Assaults were always so very reckless," Malak casually stated.

Another occupant of the room replied, "Some things will never change, Malakevnicant."

"And some things," the desert-eyed man answered easily, "can't help but do just that."

Ifrit let out a basso chuckle as he stood from his seat and freed his minion from the wall. "True enough," he said.

Looking around the dining room, the eccentric man tried not to think about what the terrified woman and child were sitting at the table for. They were obviously prisoners… they obviously needed his help…

They obviously had nothing to do with what he had come to accomplish.

…Not for the moment, at any rate.

Ignoring the poor mother and son (and the fat man with the increasingly angry look on his face), Malak centered his gaze on Ifrit. "I would like to speak with you alone. My word of honor."

After considering it for a moment, the large elite-demon said, "Agreed," and led the desert-eyed man from the room. The two walked down the hallway for a minute in silence before Ifrit finally asked, "So what have you come here for? For some reason, I doubt it is to kill me."

"Not directly, no," Malak conceded. At his companion's raised eyebrow (and half-smile) the eccentric man elaborated, "There are people here in Wave that wish to challenge you; a few of which just arrived, ah… recently. There is merely _one_ that you see as a challenge… What if I gave you a way or two to make sure that another will put up a significant fight as well?"

Ifrit scoffed at Malak (although the elite demon's increasingly excited grin betrayed his true feelings) and said, "You believe that they'll be able to defeat me working together?"

It was Malak's turn to scoff. "I believe they will present a significant challenge. Perhaps they will kill you. Perhaps not."

A silence ensued for a full minute. "You always did enjoy your secrets," the elite demon finally commented.

The eccentric man grinned and replied, "Some things will never change, Ifrit."

Chuckling yet again, Ifrit told the desert-eyed man, "Now about this potential challenger…"

* * *

_It couldn't be,_ Tenten thought, staring down at the three figures walking towards Tazuna's house. But as the small group caught sight of her sitting on the roof, and the one in the middle smiled and waved, the young ninja's happiness overrode her sense of caution. Leaping from the roof, she called out, "Raiden!" and flung herself into her boyfriend's arms.

"Hey there, Ten-chan," Raiden whispered lovingly into her ear as he wrapped her in a protective embrace. "Glad to see you're doing well."

Tenten laughed and pulled back a little so that she could gaze into Raiden's eyes… and then she stopped. "Oh, Raiden…" she said quietly and concernedly, reaching up to touch the scar that now adorned his face. "What happened to you?"

His easy smile still in place (and still genuine) the amethyst-eyed ninja told her, "It's a long story full of adventure, romance, loss, stabbing, and demons… Mostly those last two. I'll fill you in later." Pointedly looking up at the trees on his right, Raiden added, "After all, I'm sure you and Naruto aren't the only ones that want to hear it."

Blinking and looking over to the side, Tenten watched the young demon-hunter drop silently from the trees and walk over to the little group as he asked, a grin on his face, "How the hell'd you guys get here?"

As Naruto and Raiden clapped arms together, Tenten watched something significant pass between the two best-friends; as if they were both coming to some unspoken understanding. After the moment passed, the amethyst-eyed ninja merely answered, "Malak."

The crimson-eyed warrior nodded as if that had explained everything, and then turned to greet Ino and Hinata. After giving Ino a hug and telling her it was good to see her, Hinata clamped Naruto in a fierce hug before the demon-hunter could even say anything. "I'm really glad you're okay," the young Hyuuga said, her face practically buried in the crimson-eyed warrior's chest.

Although he looked a little confused at the pale-eyed girl's intensity, Naruto hugged back and replied confidently, "It'll take more than a few demonic hit-squads to take me down." Tenten took notice that as he released Hinata from the hug, the young Hyuuga girl's hands seemed to linger a little longer than they should've.

_Oh no…_ Tenten thought as she recognized the way Hinata was acting.

"Come on guys," Naruto said. "Let's go inside and exchange tales; we can start planning how we're going to stop these damned demons after we're done."

She was slightly comforted when Raiden took ahold of her hand and began walking with her, but Tenten couldn't help but pity Hinata's timing.

* * *

"You disobeyed the Hokage," the shadow heard Kakashi state sternly.

"He never gave me any actual orders. So no, I didn't. Besides, he said that he'd have sent more ninjas if he could figure out a way to get them across the sea in an ample amount of time. We just decided to take care of the work for him," came Raiden's reply.

Naruto chimed in with, "Come on, Kakashi. What matters right now is that he, Ino, and Hinata are here now, and they can be huge assets to us. Can't we worry about the how and why they came here _after_ we're done having elite demons breathe down our necks?"

The shadow flitted across the hallway and overheard Tenten, Hananoki, and Ino discussing something, but they were too quiet to hear very well. For a moment the shadow wondered where Hinata was, but it quickly decided that she was probably with that group, but not speaking.

_Certainly not one to waste words,_ thought the shadow.

After slithering down the stair, through the living room, out the door, and into the woods, Malak released his grip on the spell and rose smoothly from the shadow he'd bound himself to. The grin that adorned his face probably wasn't going to fade anytime soon; after all, the three other ninjas had arrived and Ino and Hinata had met their elemental companions! And from the fact that he'd been able to feel Raiden's aura through the door while bound within a shadow, the eccentric man deduced that the amethyst-eyed ninja was adjusting to his power quite rapidly… which was most important of all.

_One last little trial, my friend_, Malak thought. _One last test to help you break the rest of that barrier. And then you will be ready to face what is coming alongside your companions._

Beginning his trek through the woods to find a suitable location to cast a spell, the eccentric man was caught off guard by a familiar presence. He prodded at the familiar chakra with his senses to make sure he was right.

Malak, putting aside his mission for the moment, headed towards the source of the chakra.

* * *

_Why can't I be stronger?_ Hinata lamented as she sat huddled against the tree, her tear-streaked face buried in the arms wrapped around her legs.

If she had only had the courage to act on her feelings sooner, maybe she wouldn't have had to listen to Hananoki tell her that Naruto and the ocean-eyed girl had become an item. _Why can't I be brave?_

Just as the tears threatened to well up again, a voice right in front of Hinata stated, "Now this is just ridiculous."

The young Hyuuga was surprised to find herself staring into Malak's golden eyes when she looked up. "We simply _must_ stop meeting like this," the eccentric man told her, his arms resting upon his knees, his face serious and concerned despite his words. It was then that she realized that the two of them had indeed met in an extremely similar situation, and Hinata shook her head and let out a small, self-deprecating chuckle.

Then her new spirit companion intervened with her thoughts, '**Did this man accompany you and your friends here?**' Hinata was caught slightly off guard by the suspicion evident in Amnis' tone.

But the question had certainly sparked the pale-eyed girls' own curiosity; after all, the last she had seen of Malak was when he had sent her, Raiden, and Ino off on their flight.

"How did you get here, Malak? You didn't have another carpet, did you?" Hinata asked.

Malak scoffed. "Even if I had a second carpet, I don't have the wind chakra to propel it. No, I got here by my own means." He raised a hand to forestall the young Hyuuga's next, obvious question and told her, "I have techniques and magic that allow me to travel great distances in short amounts of time, but they are all either made for only myself or are far too dangerous to allow you—or any of your friends, for that matter—to utilize."

Hinata considered the answer for a moment, and while she could still feel Amnis' strange and unexplained skepticism the pale-eyed girl trusted Malak and trusted his judgment. She nodded at the eccentric man to tell him that if he said his powers were too dangerous to have used on them, then the young Hyuuga thought they were too dangerous as well.

Smiling his thanks, Malak asked his own question, "Now, Hinata, may I inquire as to why you are out here all by yourself? From what I've observed, the others are all in or around that fine little house over there."

Unable to hold herself back when she was staring into eyes that gleamed with gold, Hinata recalled to Malak what had transpired earlier…

_Flashback_

_Ino dragged the other three girls into a separate bedroom while Kakashi 'had a discussion' with Raiden that Naruto had invited himself to. When the four where by themselves, Ino began their meeting without preamble, "Our Hinata here," she wrapped an arm around the pale-eyed girl, "has a serious crush on a guy. And we are going to help her take action."_

_While Tenten took on a strange, rather concerned look, Hananoki squealed with delight and asked, "Who is it? How long have you liked him? Is he cute?"_

"_Well…" the shy Hyuuga said, "It's… it's actually… um… Naruto."_

_Hananoki seemed to freeze in place for a minute as Tenten took in a deep breath. Her smile having vanished, Hananoki looked very sheepish and unsure, and she looked to the hazelnut-eyed girl as if for support. Tenten merely nodded._

"_Uh… um… I… ah…" the ocean-eyed girl stumbled with her words for a few moments before finally taking a breath, looking Hinata straight in the eyes and blurting out, "I'm with Naruto now."_

_Uncomprehending, Hinata blinked at Hananoki, thinking that perhaps the ocean-eyed girl didn't mean what the pale-eyed Hyuuga thought she meant. But Hananoki kept looking Hinata in the eyes, unwavering, and Hinata could see the silent apology in the young ninja's ocean-blue eyes._

_The pale-eyed girl suddenly felt completely deflated. "Oh," is all that Hinata said as she moved for the door._

"_Hinata…"_

"_It's fine," Hinata said, cutting Hananoki off. "I think I just need to take a walk." She left without another word._

_Flashback End_

"So Naruto has a girlfriend now…" Malak muttered, shaking his head. "They grow up so fast… But I must say, while I'm sure Hananoki is a fine young girl, he certainly lost a great chance at a most excellent woman when he chose her."

Blushing at the eccentric man's compliment, Hinata confided, "It's just… Maybe if I had been braver, I wouldn't have held back for so long… for _too_ long…"

"Maybe if my experiments with turning mustard gas into ketchup hadn't gone so horribly wrong, I wouldn't have had the chance to spend my vacation in the tropics fighting off a horde of zombies. But I'd hardly waste my time complaining about it," Malak interrupted. After a moment of slightly awkward silence, he added, "As a matter of fact, I'm fairly certain I had more fun with the zombie killing than the actual relaxing portion of the trip anyway." Standing and beginning to pace, the eccentric man went on, "So think of this not as a setback; think of this as an opportunity! Now that you know Naruto is out of reach, focus on searching for another, instead of gaining Naruto's attention! I can assure you, Hinata, that a girl like you will have _no_ trouble finding men willing to be with you. All that's left is to find one that _you_ want to be with."

He stopped suddenly and looked at the sky, then thumped the palm of his hand against his forehead. "I'm very sorry, Hinata," he said, looking at the young Hyuuga and performing his signature bow, "But I'm afraid I've spent a little too much time here as it is; I have tasks requiring my attention that I have been ignoring."

Hinata sprung up as Malak turned to leave and said, "Wait! But… what about the others? Have you been to see them yet?"

Turning his head her way, the golden-eyed man told Hinata, "No, and please don't reveal my presence here to the others. I will be keeping tabs on both the demons and you all, but I will not intervene unless it is necessary."

With a smirk and a wave, Malak walked off into the forest, saying, "I wouldn't want to steal the spotlight, after all."

* * *

"Man, I love stealing the spotlight," Dante commented as the terrified villagers behind him dropped their pitchforks and sickles and scurried into their homes, trusting the stranger who said he was there on behalf of Konoha to protect them.

The demon-hunter examined the twenty, blue, dog-sized, fly-like demons that were buzzing rapidly towards the village with the five green mantises that stood as tall as a human lurching on behind the flies. "Huh," Dante expertly examined, "Strange to see beezlebubs out in the open like this. Something must be forcing them out… But what?"

Unfortunately, Dante didn't have time to ponder the question further, as the fly-demons had finally entered his pistols' range. The stream of demonic-chakra bullets from Ebony and Ivory tore through the first six monstrosities at the same time as Dante began to charge at the oncoming group of annoying, buzzing, little demons.

The son of Sparda flipped gracefully into the air and landed upon one of the confused, blue beezlebubs, smashing the creature with a satisfying '_squish_'. Then Ebony and Ivory both appeared in front of a demon on either side of their wielder and proceeded to blow the demons' brains out. Their task accomplished, the twin pistols disappeared into the demon-hunter's large, red coat… but before the surrounding beezlebubs could even begin to register that their prey was unarmed, Rebellion swung from Dante's back in a wide circle and cut down another eight of the fly-like demons.

Once the other three monsters noticed that their comrades had all been demolished in a matter of seconds, they each began to turn and flee, but the professional demon-hunter wasn't about to let his prey escape that easily. With a cry of, "**Round Trip**!" Dante sent his large claymore twirling horizontally through the air; the spinning, energy-charged blade spun around like a boomerang and cut down the remaining blue beezlebubs… as well as one of the large, green mantises that had begun devouring one of the fallen demons.

Rebellion returned obediently to its wielder's grasp, and Dante immediately put it back to work; he charged his weapon with blood-red, demonic power and shot towards another of the feasting creatures while shouting out, "**Stinger**!" The power and momentum behind it drove Rebellion deep into the carapace of the green beezlebub and immediately released the stored demonic energy upon impact, blowing apart the demon in an explosion of dark ichor and gore.

Completely unfazed by the fact that he was now covered in demonic goop, Dante turned to face the other three charging demons. He flipped his sword upside-down in his grip and brought it up behind him. After charging the blade with more of his power, the demon-hunter called out, "**Overdrive**!" and swept Rebellion in three separate arcs, launching three crescents of blood-red energy at the oncoming monsters. Before they knew what was happening, the each of the demons had been cleaved in half.

After sheathing Rebellion, Dante began wiping off the demonic blood and ichor that hadn't already finished dissolving. He was just about to get the last of it when a voice yelled behind him, "What have you done?"

Turning, the professional demon-hunter turned to find a short, round man with stubby, brown hair, and a dirty, disheveled, mahogany suit. "You've killed my pets! How dare you interfere with my fun?" the little man exclaimed.

"Quite easily, as a matter of fact," Dante replied.

The strange man turned red in the face and screamed, "You will pay for this! Noctpteran will make you pay for this!" Then he disappeared in a swirl of what seemed to be spores of some type.

Staring at the spot that Noctpteran had occupied, Dante heaved a heavy sigh. "This was supposed to be so simple…" he lamented. "Find roaming band of demons. Slaughter roaming band of demons. Return to Konoha. Profit. Now I've gotta track an actually high-level demon. What a pain…"

As he began his trek out of the village to search for Noctpteran's lair, Dante idly wondered if Naruto was back from his simple escort mission yet.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Four elemental spirits, a half-angel, and a half-demon. Now things can start getting interesting… Please review if you feel like it.


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